


Okashira

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Echoes: A Peacemaker Kurogane/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover [12]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane, Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Author Loves Writing the Meiji Revolution, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-09
Updated: 2012-10-09
Packaged: 2017-12-28 06:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoshi and the other Oniwabanshuu members serving the Shinsengumi are summoned back to Edo, but for what?  As the wind of conspiracy and betrayal sink their claws deeper into the chaos of the revolution, so too does the line between ally, friend, and foe become blurred.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First Publishing: October 2012. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 9: Okashira**

**Chapter 9.0**

_Year: Autumn 1867_

 

“ _What is it?” he asked as watched the commander’s expression grow from cheerful to a frown before the piece of elegantly wrapped paper was handed to Hijikata. The vice-commander also quickly read the message and also frowned, causing him to be more worried than usual._

“ _I think you should go, Toshi,” Kondou said. “I’ll stay here and train the new recruits and bolster our forces.”_

“ _Who do you suggest I should take?” Hijikata asked, to which Tetsu found it extremely unusual – the vice commander almost never asked the commander for any advice._

“ _I think Souji would like to see his family there, and so would a couple of the others. It’s your choice, Toshi, but I think our page here would benefit from seeing life outside of Kyoto.”_

“ _Eh?” he asked, dumbfounded._

“ _In his visit to Edo, the Shogun has summoned a small contingent of Shinsengumi to Edo as representatives,” Hijikata bluntly told him._

“ _What?!”_

_The vice-commander ignored his outburst and continued to say, “I need you and the following people to prepare and be ready to leave by midday…”_

Tetsu awoke to a shrill tweet of a bird as his dream dissolved into a haze of memories and groaned, wishing that he could just take his sword and ram it into said bird. However, as he groped around for his sword, his arm hit the cool air and he became fully awake. The weather here in Edo was most definitely cooler than it had been in Kyoto, even though it was still the beginning of the harvesting season.

As the sounds of the daily activities here in the Shinsengumi’s temporary housing filtered to his ears, he looked around – a few of the men were still sleeping and to his joy Tatsu was not present on this trip to nag him. Sighing, he heard the shrill tweet again, turned his head towards the sound, and was surprised that the bird who had squawked so loudly was so tiny and very far away. There was no way he would have been able to stab the bird with his sword.

Pushing back the covers, the cool air hit his body and he shivered slightly before gathering his bedding and folded it up, storing it in the closet. Quickly changing into his working outfit, he stored the night clothes and swords in a relatively unused corner of the room, and stepped out. Breathing in a large breath of fresh-smelling cool air, he felt more awake and made his way to the main kitchens of the castle where he could smell the faint scent of food cooking.

A half-hour later, with a full belly and ready to get to work, he walked along the still-green grounds with Edo Castle’s outer walls looming behind him, carrying a tray with two cups of hot tea with him that was for Hijikata. Usually, this duty required a summon from the demon vice-commander in the morning, but with spirits unusually high and bolstered by the fresh weather, Tetsu thought that perhaps his preemptive gesture would be good to earn him a rare praise from Hijikata. There was also quite a bit of activity going on around the grounds surrounding the outer walls of Edo Castle, but Tetsu did not know if it was the usual activity or something unusual going on. The Shinsengumi had only arrived here three days ago from Kyoto, and he thought nothing more of it for there would be time later to explore to his heart’s content.

“Tetsu-kun!” a familiar voice called out from behind him, and caused him to pause and turn.

“Okita-san!” he cried, happy to see the First Unit Captain of the Shinsengumi up and about. “You’re feeling better!”

“Your concern is appreciated, Tetsu-kun,” Okita said, smiling, “but it was nothing. Hijikata-san always overreacts.”

Tetsu maintained the smile on his face, but inside he was worried. He remembered how Okita had looked after Ikedaya, Hamaguri, and when both the First and Third Units had encountered the infamous Hitokiri Battousai. Okita had been exhausted after each long and arduous battle, but he had been violently coughing after those battles. That same violent cough had overtaken him just after the Shinsengumi had arrived, and Tetsu had thought he had seen Okita cough out blood. Hijikata’s reaction to that event had also caused the worry in Tetsu to deepen as he was sent almost hourly for half the day to the kitchens for boiling hot water to bring back to where the Shinchougumi had given them their quarters.

“If you are bringing tea to Hijikata-san, then he is not here. He is on his way to a meeting with the Shogun,” Okita said, catching up to him.

“The Shogun?!” Tetsu nearly shouted, with his surprise and shock causing him to nearly drop the tray and the cups.

“Careful there,” Okita said, laughing as Tetsu hastily recovered his grip on the tray and managed not to spill the extremely hot liquid. “Rumor has it that it is something that will affect the entire Shinsengumi.”

“We’re not being disbanded, are we?” Tetsu asked.

“No,” Okita reassured him, “it did not sound that grave, Tetsu-kun. Though with what has happened since Ikedaya, I sometimes wonder what will eventually happen to all of us.” There was an oddly contemplative look on the First Unit Captain’s face but it was quickly broken by a cheerful smile as Okita continued, “I heard that there are some interesting activities that will take place on the south-western area of Edo Castle, near the nishinomaru today. Would you like to go see what is going on?”

“Sure!” Tetsu said, excited by the prospect of entering the castle and exploring the place. With Hijikata not here, his duties were light and that meant he could put them off until later.

After dropping off the tea back in the kitchens, the two of them made their way to the south-western area of the castle, where indeed, there was some sort of activity going on. Tetsu saw more quite a few people milling about, whispering to one another. There were a few members of the Shinchougumi about, and more than a few of the Shinsengumi, but none of them seemed to acknowledge anyone else other than who they were whispering and talking to. He caught several pieces of conversations, but not enough that he understood what exactly was happening. The normally good-natured expression that Okita carried started to change to a more concerned look as they continued on through the main outer gate, though the inner gate, and into the large, flourishing gardens of the area.

However, the two were stopped from fully entering the garden by the sudden appearance of several black-clothed shinobi, one of which held up a hand and said, “Please turn back, my lords. We do not want any unnecessary injuries when our live-weapons exercise commence.”

“Tetsu-kun, let us leave,” the hard, nearly unrecognizable, cold tone that came from Okita, caused Tetsu to shiver inwardly as he looked at the Captain of the First Unit whose concerned expression had completely vanished.

His reluctance to leave was great, but with the imposing figures that the few shinobi standing near the entrance gave, along with the sudden coldness of Okita’s tone, Tetsu found himself retreating without a word of protest. As the two approached the inner gate to join the masses that were clustered on the bridges over the moat, they heard a voice call out from behind them, saying, “Souji!”

The two stopped and turned, and though Tetsu faintly recognized the older-looking man who had called out to Okita, he did fully recognize the uniform that the man was wearing – Shinchougumi. The recognition became a little clearer as Tetsu remembered occasionally seeing the man talking with Hijikata, outside the room where Okita had been recovering from his sudden collapse when they had just arrived. Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell him who that man was, except that he was one of the members of the Shinchougumi.

“Rintarou-niisan,” Okita acknowledged, the tone of his voice no longer freezing, but still had not returned to the usual cheerful one that Tetsu was used to hearing.

“Souji, you should not be up and about yet,” the Shinchougumi member said.

“I am fine, niisan,” Okita said, this time a bit more cheerful. “It was nothing. Have you met Hijikata-san’s page, Ichimura Tetsunosuke?”

“I have,” the Shinchougumi said, to which Tetsu gave a short bow in acknowledgement, considering that Okita had referred to this person as his older brother. Though he did not voice it, he thought that the two looked nothing alike. Sure there were stark difference between him and Tatsu too, but they had similar jaws and noses – both Okita and this Rintarou guy had no common facial likenesses; even their hair looked different. The Shinchougumi man looked like an iconic image of a samurai when not in battle, and Tetsu briefly wondered if all the Shinchougumi wore the hakama and gi whenever they were not in battle – not just the ones he could visibly identify milling about. There seemed to be more of a formal attitude with the Shinchougumi than with the Shinsengumi.

“Okita Rintarou, _Kyokuchou_ of the Shinchougumi,” the man said, returning the bow. “I am Souji’s brother-in-law. Please to formally meet your acquaintance, Ichimura-kun. I’ve heard a lot about you from Hijikata-san.”

Tetsu’s jaw dropped. “Eh?! You’re the _kyokuchou_?! But I’ve heard stories that the _Kyokuchou_ of the Shinchougumi is supposed to be an ogre-sized man with a fiery head, wields a horse-chopper sword, and…”

Okita’s laughter from behind a hand-covered mouth stopped Tetsu from listing all the things he had heard about the supposed Shinchougumi commander back before they had left Kyoto and he flushed red in embarrassment, realizing what he had just said. He could hear his brother’s phantom voice ordering him to go immediately commit seppuku for all the words he had just spilled out. He chanced a glance up at the Shinchougumi commander and to his surprise; he saw amusement written all over the man’s face.

“Still spreading those lies about me to scare the kids, Souji?” the commander asked.

“Always, niisan,” Okita replied, his laughter dying down.

Tetsu allowed himself to relax, seeing that the commander was not going to punish him for such indiscretion and actually found himself liking the good-natured presence of the man. It seemed to compliment Okita’s presence, and he briefly wished that he was page to this man instead of the demon vice-commander. He wondered if the commander had a page, and if the page would be willing to trade stories with him – he wanted to know more about this kind-looking man, especially since the man reminded him of Yamanami-san.

“You shouldn’t be wandering out in the cool weather, Souji. Have you forgotten how quickly the wind picks up here?”

“No, niisan,” Okita replied, shaking his head a bit. “I have not forgotten. Tetsu-kun and I heard of some activity here, and we wanted to see what was going on. Shinobi at the entrance to the gardens told us that a live-weapons exercise was about to commence.”

“Ah,” the Shinchougumi commander said. “Follow me. We’ll get to somewhere warmer and I’ll let you know what is happening. Plus, it will give Ichimura-kun an opportunity to possibly observe the exercise, since I heard that the Shinsengumi’s primary shinobi, Yamazaki-san, is also participating in this exercise.”

“Susumu is participating?” Tetsu asked, as the three of them walked back through the inner gate but diverted to the right instead of the left. Their path took them along the inner grounds of the secondary wall and at one of the entrances to the inside area of the wall, they entered and climbed the steps up to a magnificent view of the castle grounds and the surrounding areas. It was during the climb that he pressed on, asking, “What about Aya-nee, Kai-nii, and Aoshi?”

Originally, the four shinobi of the Shinsengumi had not gone with the small contingent of Shinsengumi representatives to Edo, but half-way through the trip up to Edo, the four had caught up to them. Tetsu had not heard the exactly reason why the four shinobi were traveling up to Edo, but Susumu was surprisingly curt and evasive in answering his questions. He wondered if what was currently happening had anything to do with the separate summon that the four shinobi had received.

As they entered a relatively empty guard house within the wall, with only a few people in it, two of them shinobi, the Shinchougumi commander answered his question, saying, “Matsumoto-san, Shimada-san, and Shinomori-san are also participating in this exercise.” He led the two to a small window carved into the stone and wood-work of the guardhouse and gestured to the expanse of green trees, brushes, and the flowing green grass in the distance, saying, “That is where the exercise will be commencing, but to protect all others from the usage of live-weapons, this is the closest we can get to. Of course, they have already warned us about the possibility of something flying up here and hitting someone.”

“What is this exercise that they are doing, Rintarou-niisan?” Okita asked his tone completely devoid of any cheeriness. “From what I remember while living here and walking these grounds, they never did this sort of exercise, even during their open training sessions.”

“They’re testing a certain person for the position of _Okashira_ ,” the commander quietly said. “ _Okashira_ is their leader and also the commander of their Edo faction, which is much larger in size and personnel than their Kyoto faction, though with the Shogun spending most of his time in Kyoto, I’m wondering if they’ll transfer more personnel down there. However, I was very young and fortunate to have witnessed the last time they tested a person for the position as the head of the Oniwabanshuu. Their current _Okashira_ is in good health, but for reasons unknown to me, he has suggested that they appoint a new _Okashira_.”

Tetsu sucked in a breath as he listened to the commander’s words and Okita’s next question, “Who are they testing?”

“Shinomori Aoshi-san.”

A rather loud horn sounded before Tetsu could voice his opinion as the ground beneath them rumbled a bit. Tetsu peered out of the window, but he could not see anything. The commander answered his unasked question, saying, “They’re closing the inner gates – the test is about to commence.”

“Live weapons…” Okita quietly said. “They are not trying to kill him, are they?”

Tetsu saw the commander glance over to the two shinobi before saying, “That, I do not know.”

* * *

Susumu had forgotten how chilly it was in Edo at this time of the year, but he did not shiver and merely re-adjusted his grip on the branch he was holding onto. He would soon be warming up and would probably be overly hot as the test continued, but none of them could afford to remove their coverings. He had also forgotten just how stifling it was in the full black-wrapping gear and clothes of a shinobi, having been at somewhat of a liberty as to what he wore during his time in Kyoto.

With only eyes showing, he and nineteen others looked out from the densely packed garden of Edo Castle, waiting for the test to commence. Each and every shinobi of the Oniwabanshuu fully supported the current _Okashira_ ’s suggestion to let Shinomori Aoshi become the next _Okashira_ , but none of them were convinced that the young man was ready; hence the reason why twenty of them were hidden among the vast garden of Edo Castle. The usage of live weapons was permitted only for this test and even the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu's leader had traveled from here for this and was watching them from the distance. Should Aoshi fail and lose his life, then a new potential _Okashira_ was to be trained while the current _Okashira_ retained his position. All shinobi of the Oniwabanshuu that was currently not on assignment were also watching this and would also protect the populace around the area to ensure that no stray weapon would inadvertently injure a passerby.

The rules were simple for this test: twenty of them would be waiting in ambush to test the young Aoshi of his skills, using lethal force, but only nineteen of them would make it out alive. That was because Aoshi had been assigned to kill one of their own while disabling all others. If Aoshi failed to kill his assigned target and only disabled the target, killed the incorrect target, or was killed by one of the twenty, then the test would end. All twenty of them would be employing all sorts of weaponry, tricks, and poisons – it was necessary, for they had to treat Aoshi as if he were the enemy, and Aoshi had to treat them as a real threat for his own survival and proof that if necessary, he would be able to kill one of their own with no sentimental attachments.

That was how the Oniwabanshuu had been operating since their founding by Tokugawa Yoshimune, and though Susumu had heard a few outsiders who knew of the test, calling it barbaric; it served as a reminder to those who recently joined their ranks and for the younger ones still in training that they did not take traitors lightly. However, the one who was to be killed today was not a traitor, and it had come as a surprise to most when the assigned target had volunteered to be killed.

It seemed that very few within their organization knew that the daughter of the current _Okashira_ had been poisoned four years ago to the point where she had become terminally ill with an unknown disease that was wasting her away. Susumu had only happened on that information by chance and the _Okashira_ had commanded him to keep it a secret to carry it to his grave. That poison had been intended for the _Okashira_ , but Machimaki Haruka had killed the would-be assassin, though not before accidentally inhaling the strange poison. Though still outwardly strong and capable of performing her duties, Haruka had volunteered to be the target that Aoshi would kill.

A long, low sound of a horn being blown was heard, and as a breeze rustled the trees, bushes, and leaves littering the ground, Susumu cleared all thoughts from his mind. There was no more turning back now for Shinomori Aoshi and the Oniwabanshuu bent on killing him.

 

_Five hours later..._

 

Susumu’s muscles screamed in protest as he sprinted and scattered a whirlwind of leaves behind him, just as a _thunk_ of a throwing knife embedded itself into the ground where his left foot had been only a moment ago. This chase around the gardens had started only a half-hour ago, but he had been near-constantly attacking Aoshi since the young man had unexpectedly landed in their mist just as the sounding horn had stopped.

That initial attack by Aoshi, by the deployment of several throwing knives that had nicked certain pressure points, had disabled four of the twenty, flushing the remaining five who had been hiding in the dense forest of trees in this part of the garden out into the open. Susumu had been one of those five, and he had sprinted as fast as he could away, then doubled back, teaming up with three other shinobi who discarded their hiding spots in favor of openly attacking. Their open attacks danced around Aoshi and maneuvered him to other shinobi who had set quite elaborate traps and ambushes, but the young man had managed to evade and disarm the traps, while avoiding being killed.

There had been only one time during the first hour of combat that Aoshi had nearly succumbed to the pressures of the test – and that had been through Kai. The big man had managed to successfully sneak up on Aoshi while the rest of them had tried to whittle away the nearly impenetrable defense that he had put up. Aoshi had absolutely no warning as Kai had wrapped his large bulky frame around the skinny young man, trying to choke him to death. However, being the thinner of the two, Aoshi managed to free himself up enough to place a quick succession of disabling pressure points on Kai and ran away before the other shinobi in the field could get close enough for a close-combat kill.

Now, five hours after the initial start, Susumu had counted eighteen disabled shinobi in the field, some slightly hidden, others laying sprawled out in the open – all temporarily paralyzed until the counter pressure points could be applied. Aoshi had not killed his target yet, and that meant that Haruka was the only remaining shinobi on the field that Susumu could count on as a collaborator. The last person that Aoshi had disabled before starting his pursuit had been Aya, and she had given him a very intense fight with her smaller size and faster forms before unexpectedly losing the upper hand.

Neither he or Haruka interfered in the personal fight that lasted a few minutes, but they had not stood idly by and had set up several traps, to which Susumu was currently sprinting towards one. The younger shinobi’s height and speed meant that he would be caught up soon, but just as he felt and heard the whisper of rushing footsteps fall in behind him, he dove and rolled forward, missing three throwing knives that had been intended for the paralysis points on his neck and shoulders. As the momentum of his roll slowed and he felt himself right again, his hand brushed across a certain pattern of leaves on the ground and he grasped at it. His fingers curled around a small metal shaft and he pulled.

The hurriedly-built spring-loaded trap shot up from the ground, sending him into the air as it released its payload of several throwing knives towards Aoshi. He used the air he had gained and sprang from tree branch to tree branch before taking a flying leap over the inner moat and towards the outer castle walls. Scrabbling for purchase and grip along the slipper tiles of the rooftop covering the walls when he landed in a heap, his hands finally found a small crevice and he dug deep into it, stopping his fall.

There was no time for him to rest as he glanced back to see Aoshi sailing through the air, right towards him and with all his strength, he pulled himself over and onto the spine of the roof, just as Aoshi landed right next to him. However, he smirked under the mouth covering of his uniform as the second trap sprung with an unexpected hand reaching out from the other side of the wall and tightly wrapped around Aoshi’s leg. The hand gave a quick, strong tug and he rolled out of the way, falling back down the long drop into the moat, watching as the young _Okashira_ -to-be crashed unceremoniously onto his back on the thin rooftop.

Susumu hit the water _hard_ , knocking the wind out of him as his back exploded in pain. He was stunned for a few moments, slowly sinking with the weight of his clothes dragging him down, but it quickly wore off as his body adjusted to the shock and he righted himself, kicking and swinging his arms as fast as he could to get to the surface. Air as sweet as the light rain of the spring season swept into his lungs as he surfaced and took a deep breath. He heard the clang of metal on metal and looked up to see the tiny outlines of Aoshi and Haruka fighting – the twin kodachi that Aoshi carried were finally bared and there was now no holding back for the young shinobi.

He swam to the edge of the moat and pulled himself up. As he ran across the field, putting counter-pressure points on his fellow disabled shinobi, he occasionally glanced back to see how the fight between Aoshi and his primary target was going. The two were evenly matched, and despite the condition that Haruka was in, it looked as if she was not going to make it easy for Aoshi, and he didn’t expect their vice-commander of the Edo forces to. The other shinobi participating in the exercise gathered to where he and the final shinobi he had placed counter-pressure points upon were as they stared up at the parapets, watching the fight with interest.

“He’s slowing down,” he heard Kai mutter which was followed by a wave of murmurs that supported the assessment. “No wait…he’s speeding up…”

“Don’t hesitate, Aoshi,” Aya murmured from beside him. “You’ve already known the succession technique for five months. Use it.”

“You didn’t teach it to him, did you?” he asked. He knew that Aya was competent in using various types of weaponry for her assignments, but she had no set skills with any specific techniques. All that Aoshi had learned of kodachi fighting was from their _Okashira_ and the aid of the commander of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu – though Susumu knew that Kashiwazaki Nenji, or Okina as he was known to all those within the Oniwabanshuu, was no master with the kodachi.

“He just came home one day from training with Okina, five months ago, and I saw a change about him,” Aya replied. “He knows it, so why is he hesitating in using it?”

He did not reply to that question as he watched the vicious fight that was almost too fast to follow with the normal senses. However, all of them had spent their entire lives developing and honing the senses to be faster and more accurate—

It happened so fast that Susumu did not see the technique that threw Haruka back in a spray of blood. However, he did hear Aya mutter, “Succession technique: Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren.”

Susumu saw Aoshi sheath his kodachi and approach the lifeless body of Haruka and gently pick her up before leaping down, bouncing from the edge of the wall and across the moat. Aoshi was carrying their deceased vice-commander with such tenderness as he approached them that Susumu could not help but stare down at the ground in reverence. He was not the first, but he followed the lead of a few others who had initiated the bow and bent a single knee to the ground in respect for what had just happened.

“ _Okashira_ ,” he murmured with the rest as Aoshi stopped in front of them.

* * *

“Machimaki Haruka was not a traitor to the Shogun, Oniwabanshuu, or to the Shinchougumi, Okita- _kyokuchou_ ,” one of the shinobi standing near the window of the silent guardhouse said, turning around to face a white-sheeted looking Tetsu and the two stony-looking Shinsengumi captain and Shinchougumi commander. The shinobi had a weathered looking face but his eyes were still sharp-looking and he had a curious-looking mustache on his face. “Before she was assigned as the _fukuchou_ of the Edo faction, she had protected her _Okashira_ from a would-be assassin. Unfortunately, she inhaled some of the poison the assassin had been planning to use and it had been slowly killing her. She volunteered for this, Okita- _kyokuchou_. Please do not think otherwise.”

“Thank you for that explanation, Kashiwazaki-dono. We of the Shinchougumi honor her and the work that she has done for us,” Tetsu heard the commander of the Shinchougumi reply. “Tell me though, Kashiwazaki-dono, why test someone so young for this position? Surely someone older and wiser would do?”

“I recommended to the _Okashira_ that we will need the young to lead us into this new era, what ever it may hold,” the shinobi replied before sketching an abbreviated bow to all of them, saying, “I hope the very best for all of our continued work against those who oppose the Shogunate.”

“Farewell then, Kashiwazaki-dono. May your journey back to Kyoto be safe,” said the commander, returning the bow. Okita and Tetsu followed the commander’s example, though Tetsu was still confused and shocked at what had just happened that he could not utter any words.

After the shinobi left, Tetsu numbly climbed down after Okita and the Shinchougumi commander, not feeling the warm autumn sun on his skin or the fresh breeze that blew by in the courtyard as the gates opened again. There was no sight of any of the shinobi in the gardens and as the people streamed in, wondering what had gone on, for all they managed to see was a brief, confusing fight on the top of the inner wall. Before they crossed the bridge that would lead them to the outer gate and back into the hustle and bustle of the day, the commander of the Shinchougumi stopped and turned a bit to address the two.

“Forgive me Souji and Ichimura-san for not walking with you outside, but with what has just happened, I have a few things to attend to.”

“We understand, niisan,” Okita answered as Tetsu continued to stare mostly at the top of the inner wall, still seeing phantom images of what had just happened. “Thank you for allowing us to go up there.”

“Ichimura-kun, will you be all right?” the commander asked, drawing Tetsu’s semi-vacant gaze back to the concerned face of the commander.

Tetsu nodded, though he wasn’t sure if he would be, but he did not want to worry the commander. As soon as the commander of the Shinchougumi left and he and Okita began crossing the bridge that would lead them back out into the streets of Edo, he finally asked the one question that weighed heavily on his mind, “Antidotes exist for all sorts of poisons, don’t they, Okita-san? Why didn’t they try to cure her?”

Okita paused in the middle of the bridge before turning to face Tetsu with a sad smile on his face. “Not everything can be cured, Tetsu-kun,” he said.

 

~*~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 9.1**

 

Chills and fever swept across the populace of Edo only a day after the Oniwabanshuu swore allegiance to their new _Okashira_. To prevent a total outbreak of the cold from being afflicted upon more people and to protect their leader, the Shogun's advisors put on hold all meetings with those who had come to the great city. However, even with many of Edo's inhabitants already stricken with the fever, the Oniwabanshuu were still vigilant in their protection of their city and their leader.

“...that was all I could find, _Okashira_ ,” Aya stated as she continued to kneel with her head bowed in deference to Aoshi.

Far be it that Aoshi was only less than a day into his new role as leader of the most powerful group of spies that the entire nation had, there was not another soul in the room except for him and his former master. Advisors to the previous _Okashira_ had stepped down when their old leader had withdrawn and not one of the Oniwabanshuu had seen the previous leader since Aoshi had taken command. It was tradition for the previous _Okashira_ to make himself scarce when the new leader took command, as it was to prevent any undue influence over the new leader's authority. However, the lack of advisors at Aoshi's side would soon be rectified, once a consensus was reached between the senior members of the group as to who would be best to advise their new leader on many issues that they were concerned with, especially with the marked increase in instability and violence breaking out throughout the entire country.

“The betrayal of Yamazaki Ayumu's identity was out of spite,” Aoshi muttered more to himself than to Aya. “In the records, it was stated that several close incidents similar to what happened with Yamazaki were documented by several of our agents in the field. All had escaped with their lives but they were never targeted again. The curious thing is, is that all of them had close ties with our former _Okashira_.”

“If I may ask, _Okashira_ ,” Aya said, keeping her head low, “How often had it happened before Ayumu's case?”

“Eleven times,” he replied, “in the last thirty years. Half of those threatened were also _kunoichi_ whom were closest to our former _Okashira_. The other halves were those who had directly reported to him over the years.”

“Thirty years is within our former _Okashira_ 's command, sir. Perhaps bringing him into our investigation--”

“No,” Aoshi interrupted her. “From what I read and from your report, I suspect that he, she, or they might try to target him soon. Someone is trying to maneuver their way into power within the Oniwabanshuu and by silencing people who have influence within our group using threats or outright killing them; they're ensuring a clear line of access.”

“Forgive me for being so prudent and blunt, but our former _Okashira_ said that he chose you to lead us because it should be the young ones to lead the future,” she stated. “Do you believe that who ever this person is, has tried to maneuver his or her way to the top to lead the Oniwabanshuu would hold a grudge against our former _Okashira_ because he picked you?”

Aya did not hear any confirmation of her words and briefly looked up to see Aoshi silently nodding, though there was a pensive look about him that she had seen countless of times before. In the brief day between Aoshi successfully completing his task to become the new _Okashira_ and the succession ceremony, she saw an aged look appear in his eyes. Already, the weight of command was bearing down on him, and she knew that it would only become worse as the rebel forces continued to be victorious in their battles. Had their previous _Okashira_ made the correct decision to give command to Aoshi?

She quickly dashed the thought from her mind; the decision was not hers to question. They needed a fresh mind to counter the tactics of the rebels and their foreign allies and Aoshi was the best of them.

“The possibility has crossed my mind,” Aoshi answered. “I also suspect that who ever had planned this may take advantage of what has happened and possibly strike down the previous _Okashira_ and ‘solidify’ my command as a way to show the rest that my command will be through fear and any who challenge my authority will mysteriously die. It will exacerbate the current climate of unease and worry among those who count on us as allies and information gatherers. The Oniwabanshuu operate on trust in the information we bring back; the atmosphere of mistrust that is created by this possible action will eventually splinter us apart. You can see where this will lead.”

“It will lead to the demise of the Shogun's primary source of information and with the persistence of the rebels; there will not be enough time to reform. It will mean the end of the Shogunate,” Aya softly stated. “What do you want me to do?”

“You already suspect everyone, except for me,” he stated. “Why?”

“Forgive me for being obstinate this one time, _Okashira_ , but I know you. I didn't spend all those years training you to not know the real you,” she answered, daring to look up. “You're the only person I trusted to handle this matter, _Okashira_ or not.”

Aoshi was silent for a long moment before saying, “We need to move quickly. Our first order of business is to spirit the former _Okashira_ out of Edo and to a safe place.”

* * *

There were plenty of other things Tetsu wanted to do around Edo than bring tea to Hijikata and the guest that he was currently meeting with, as he sensed that their trip to the capital was about to end soon...or at least whenever the Shogun would resume meeting with the small contingent of Shinsengumi members. The fever and chill that had quickly swept through the entire city had all but closed most of the interesting places that he had wanted to visit, and thus he had been stuck running errands back and forth for the demon vice-commander for the past day.

“Tetsu-kun, watch out for that rock,” the sing-song tone of Okita called out, snapping him from his daydream as he stumbled a bit and suddenly fought to keep the cups and tray from tipping out of his hands. Laughter accompanied his attempts and it spurred him to keep his balance – he was not going fall – and as he looked down, he saw that there was no rock at all, only the dirt of the _flat_ road he was traveling on.

As soon as he balanced himself he glanced back and gave his friend a glare of annoyance and grumbled, “That's not fair, Okita-san.”

“You should not be daydreaming too much then, Tetsu-kun,” Okita gently admonished as his laughter died down.

“Why do I have to do this when there's so much to see? I want to go out and explore the city!” he groused.

“Let me see what I can do,” Okita said, after they had walked for a few minutes in silence with only the slight rattling of the teacups breaking the silence. “I will talk to Hijikata-san, and see if he will be willing to let you have the rest of the day off so you can come with me and I will be able to show you around the city, okay?”

“You'll do that?” Tetsu said, surprised at the offer but grinning from ear to ear.

Okita merely gave a nod and smiled and said after Tetsu's crow of 'yes!', “Even though most of the places are closed because of the fever and chills, there are still plenty of other places that I haven't seen in a while. There are the gardens on the far side of the castle, the training halls outside of the grounds, and several other areas I want to visit.”

With a much lighter heart and excitement at the possibility of being relieved of his duties for the rest of the day, Tetsu walked with a renewed vigor to the guest house near the edge of the enormous castle grounds that the small contingent of the Shinsengumi that had arrived in Edo had been housed in for the past few days. The vice-commander was currently in the main room with his illustrious guest. He quickly but carefully set the tray with the cups down and took off his sandals, stepping up to the main floor before picking the tray back up and made his way to the room. Stopping before the door panel, he announced in a loud voice, “I have brought tea for both of you, _Fukuchou_ and former _Okashira_.”

He opened the partition and saw the two sitting opposite each other in the enormous room, as both men looked up and he shuffled in with the tea. Silently setting the tray down, he handed each of them their cup and then took the tray away before shuffling back. “Will there be anything else, sirs?”

“Such a polite and well mannered page you have, Hijikata-san,” the former _Okashira_ of the Oniwabanshuu said before taking a sip of the tea. “He even kept the tea hot from his walk from the kitchens! Excellent!”

Tetsu's ears turned pink at the praise and he could imagine Okita snickering from where the First Unit Captain was standing, outside of the room, having not been invited in just yet. Hijikata merely gave an 'hmph', but not a moment later, a strange sound was heard from the former _Okashira_ that caused Tetsu to look up.

To his horror, the former _Okashira_ was clawing at his throat as Hijikata reacted to the movement by closing the distance between him and the old man and caught the old man before he toppled over. “Souji! Get the doctor now!” As Tetsu heard the hurried footsteps of Okita running to get a doctor, Hijikata turned and pinned him with a glare, saying, “Boy! Get some water from the well now and bring it in the bucket!”

“Yes, sir!” he said, and dashed off, worried and wondering what had happened.

* * *

The crowd that had gathered was few for many were still in their homes, sick with the fever and chills, but most of those gathered were of the group from Kyoto, though the Commander of the Shinchougumi was present inside the courtyard to the guest house. Aya saw Okina among those standing in the courtyard, speaking softly to both Susumu and Kai and as she and Aoshi approached, the three looked up and sketched quick bows in deference to Aoshi. Others had noticed their arrival and the hushed conversations they were having with each other fell silent as both the Shinchougumi Commander and the doctor who had been summoned to the guest house approached them.

“It was poison, _Okashira,_ ” the doctor said as Aya stepped to the side and listened to the conversation while giving a quick scan of her surroundings. Oddly enough, she noticed that the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi was standing a bit away while the rest of the Shinsengumi were standing nearer to Susumu, Kai, and Okina. The vice-commander’s young page was also standing closer to the vice-commander than to the rest of the Shinsengumi. There was a very fearful look in Tetsunosuke’s eyes that fortunately did not translate to his face. The vice-commander's expression remained closed.

“Have you identified what kind it was?” she heard Aoshi ask.

“No,” the doctor answered, hanging his head a bit. “It was complex mixture of herbs and killed him very quickly, and almost no trace of it is left, having been completely dissolved into the tea that it was drunk from. What I found was only from the deposit left on the edge of his lips.”

“There is something else you've found though,” Aoshi stated.

“Yes, and we would like to discuss it with you in private,” the Shinchougumi Commander said.

“If I may, doctor, see the body?” Aya politely asked.

“No, my dear,” the doctor said. “It is important that it is not disturbed or contaminated until otherwise said.”

“I understand,” she curtly replied, gave them a bow of deference before taking her leave and approached the small group of Oniwabanshuu. Whatever the doctor wanted to discuss with the _Okashira_ involved the body of the former _Okashira_ and she only hoped that perhaps Aoshi would be able to make sense as to how and why the former _Okashira_ had been poisoned, though the location of which it had happened was not good.

She was no fool and could easily discern what may have happened. The vice-commander had most likely been meeting with the former _Okashira_ and as usual, Tetsunosuke had probably been tasked to fetch some tea and snacks for the vice-commander and his guest. She knew that Tetsunosuke had absolutely no knowledge of poisons and thus could not have poisoned the tea. The vice-commander, however, was another story – she knew, as most who worked within the Oniwabanshuu, a few details of their allies and employers' lives, for it helped them in their line of work. She knew that the vice-commander had been a medicine peddler. Knowing which herbs mixed with others to help cure ails was one part of learning to be a medicine peddler, the other was knowing which herbal mixtures could kill.

“I am sorry for your loss, Aya,” Okina quietly said.

She nodded, accepting the kind words, but she did not want the attention drawn to her or her parentage and said, “He was our leader first, and a father second, Okina.”

“The _fukuchou_ couldn't have done it, and neither could Tetsu!” Kai said, bringing the conversation back to the main topic at hand. “I mean, look at the incompetent performance of his page over the years. There's no way a brat like that can acquire knowledge to poison our former _Okashira_.”

“What exactly happened, Kai?” she asked, knowing that even though her friend's assessment of Tetsunosuke was brutally honest, it would not matter to the eyes of anyone else who didn't know the young man.

“I was sitting on the roof of the place,” Susumu answered her question as Kai gave a nod towards the younger spy. “I saw Tetsu and Okita-san enter the grounds. Tetsu was carrying a tray with two cups of tea and he brought it to the _fukuchou_. Our former _Okashira_ praised him for actually keeping the thing hot and seconds later, I heard the _fukuchou_ shouting for Okita to get the doctor while Tetsu was sent to fetch water from the well. By the time I got there, our former _Okashira_ was already dead.”

Aya nodded but remained silent. She still could not rule out anything and she could not reveal what she and Aoshi had discussed, at least not yet. She hated suspecting her friends, especially the three before her, but with what had just happened, it was too uncanny and too much of a coincidence to have just been not deliberately done by any one of the Oniwabanshuu.

“May I have your attention please,” the Commander of the Shinchougumi suddenly said in a loud voice, drawing everybody's gaze to him. “Unfortunate circumstances have befallen all of us and it is with regret that I must impose this upon all of you. As of this moment, those of the Shinsengumi and of the Kyoto branch of the Oniwabanshuu are under house arrest until the investigation is complete.”

“Rintarou-niisan, if I may ask,” Okita spoke up in the stunned silence that followed the proclamation, “what investigation may that be? Surely you are not accusing _all_ of us of assassinating the former _Okashira_?”

“I am not,” the Commander replied. “Hijikata- _fukuchou_ is the primary suspect, but we have found traces of dry elements of the poison that was dissolved in the tea on articles of clothing that you have brought with you. Until we can get to the heart of the matter and find out who actually did this, I have to keep all of you under house arrest. I'm sorry, Souji, there is no other way.”

A neutral expression had fallen on Aoshi's face as Aya looked towards him, silently asking him what of their own theories and investigations that they were about to conduct before this happened. She got no answer as members of the Shinchougumi who had been waiting outside, came into the courtyard and streamed into the rooms of the guest house and took away several bundles of clothing. A cloth stretcher was brought in by two more members and they disappeared into the main room of the house before reappearing a few minutes later with the body of the former _Okashira_ on the stretcher.

Years in the field with countless of dead bodies had prepared her for seeing yet another one, but she was grateful that she was not the only one to look on in horror at just the way the former _Okashira_ had spent his last moments of life. There was an absolute look of pure agony frozen on the old man's face with his eyes cast in a far away look, as if begging someone to stop the torture of the poison inside of his body. She recognized and instinctively knew right then that there was only one type of poison that could cause such a contortion and death in such swiftness.

A glance over at Susumu, whom she knew had completed his field medicine training with Dr. Matsumoto* months ago, told her that Susumu did not know what kind of poison it was that had caused the death of their former _Okashira_. She turned her gaze to the doctor and saw a resigned sadness on the old man's face but could not discern anything else. Did the doctor know what exact poison had caused the former _Okashira_ 's death? The Shinchougumi Commander did mention that elements of the poison had been found on all of their clothing, so was the doctor lying about not knowing what type of poison it was or was the doctor only able to identify small elements that made up the poison? She did not know and could only speculate.

She knew that Aoshi had some training in using poisons, but he was more of a brute-force, physical shinobi than one who lurked in the shadows, like she preferred. Poisons were also a primary choice of weapon for most _kunoichi_ , due to the primary role they took whenever they were sent out into the field. She was also torn in whether or not to let Aoshi know of her discovery, for if she moved now towards her _Okashira_ , it would only serve to draw the attention of everyone and potentially put Aoshi and their own investigation at risk. She settled on merely glancing over at her former student before discreetly but deliberately gave a half-blink of her eyes. She saw him meet her gaze before looking quickly away and blinking twice. The silent message from her to him had been received. He knew that she had information and would find a way to acquire that knowledge at a later time when there were not as many people around as now.

As soon as those of the Shinchougumi, the doctor, and Aoshi left, closing the gates of the courtyard behind him, she heard a retching sound and was not surprised to see Tetsunosuke collapsing to the ground. Had she any sympathy left for Tetsunosuke, she would have perhaps shown it, but she had none. The brat was no longer a child and did not need to be coddled. Someone was deliberately targeting not only the new _Okashira_ , but her employers, besmirching their names and the heroic deeds they had done in the name of the Shogunate, and she wanted to find out whom.

 

_*Matsumoto Ryoujun was a well-respected doctor during the period. No story relation to Aya._

* * *

_Three days later…_

 

“Dinner is served!”

“Finally!” Susumu heard Tetsu cry as both him and the kid looked down the line and saw Kai and Okina come in to the main dining area in the guest house with the trays of food.

He could almost see the kid’s mouth watering as the trays of steaming hot food were passed down to each person in the line until Tetsu finally got his own. Setting his own tray down, he watched with mild interest as the kid attacked the food with such ferocity. He mentally sighed and said, “You’re going to choke and I’m going to laugh before I’ll consider maybe saving your life, kid.”

“I’m hungry and I’m growing,” Tetsu replied to the comment in between chewing and swallowing.

“Eh, leave the kid alone, Susumu,” he heard Kai say as the rest of the group settled down to eat the evening meal on their third night under house arrest. “He’s sprouting and pretty soon, he’ll probably be taller than you!”

He brushed off the comment, though he knew that the older shinobi was probably right in his assessment of Tetsu. In just the short span of only a few months, Tetsu was getting taller, and that height came with speed. Susumu had speculated more than once that had Tetsu been formally schooled in some sort of _kenjutusu_ , he would most likely have been as fast as the Third Unit Captain, but Tetsu had no such schooling. Everything he had picked up since Ikedaya had only been bits and pieces of basics. Ikedaya had been his only major battle, and even then, it was against a singular opponent. He briefly wondered how much more the vice-commander was going to keep Tetsu out of battles the situation between the Shogunate and the rebels continued to deteriorate. However, as fast as that thought formed in his head, he dropped it into the breeze – there was no use in speculating something that was not meant to be his concern.

“Still no Aya?” he heard Kai whisper as the big man settled into his seat next to him.

He minutely shook his head and heard the big man sigh in frustration. Their friend had been sitting out near the koi pond for the past three days, unmoving and only saying a few words to anyone who tried to talk to her. Both the old man, Okina, and Kai had taken meals to her, but Susumu heard that she barely ate them. Whatever was bothering their friend was unknown to them, but Susumu suspected that it had more to do with the how and why of the assassination and blame than the fact that their former _Okashira_ had died.

He heard Kai sigh again before murmuring, “And I cooked her favorite dish too…so much for the supposed big brother instinct.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it, Kai,” he heard Okina quietly say in reassurance.

Susumu was suddenly struck at how reminiscence of the words between the two shinobi sitting next to him sounded similar to what he had heard Tetsu confess to him when Ayumu had died and _he_ had been the one isolating himself on the rooftops. _Ayu_ , he thought up to where he was sure his sister was watching them from afar, _whatever it is afflicting our shinobi sister and friend, if you could give her guidance, please do_.

“Kai, can I have seconds?”

Susumu looked up from his food and musings to see Tetsu grinning like an idiot while holding out his empty rice bowl. He irritatingly sighed as Kai returned the grin and happily took the bowl from Tetsu and refilled it again. After all these years the kid still had no sense of table manners, even in an informal setting such as this. He would have thought that the young woman, Saya, whom Tetsu had visited often in Shimabara, would have had the decency to at least teach him some manners. But it looked like that never happened. He could only hope that perhaps one day, Tetsu would actually grow up in terms of mannerisms.

 

It was well after evening meal had been finished and the sun had long set by the time Susumu received the one-character message that had been hastily scribbled on a leaf. He had been discreetly handed the leaf by Kai who had whispered a few words in his ears before leaving. It was strange, in a way, that none of them could openly talk about their speculations into the death of the former _Okashira_ , for not only were the small Shinsengumi contingent and Kyoto-based Oniwabanshuu not allowed to leave the guest house, they were also being constantly watched by members of the Edo-based Oniwabanshuu. Every word they said was being monitored and passed back most likely to both Aoshi and the Shinchougumi commander.

Of course, none of the Edo Oniwabanshuu members could be seen, for they hid themselves well in the trees and surrounding areas of the guest house, but Susumu and his fellow shinobi had been trained to pick them out with ease. He had mentioned it to the vice-commander the first night, and merely got a grunt of acknowledgement and nothing else. If the vice-commander mentioned the fact that they were being watched by shadows to anyone else, no one showed it, but it wasn’t his place to mention anything regarding the Oniwabanshuu to any of the Shinsengumi. Everyone else was already on edge with the house arrest, more so he and his fellow shinobi, for it felt like a game of cat and mouse. Susumu hated being the mouse.

He saw first, rather than heard the barely audible footsteps of Aya, as he turned the corner of the outer edge of the guest house. She was walking towards him from the far side of the walkway but there was an even more serious demeanor about her than her usual stoic, quiet self. It was the same kind of look she had on her face for the past three days, except now she was acting on it. She had discovered something, but what? How was it connected to the single character she had scribbled on the leaf? He didn’t dare give her a nod of acknowledgement that would most likely be seen by those watching the guest house.

“Ten minutes,” he murmured as they passed by each other and continued along the way.

He continued to walk away and soon turned another corner to see Okina placing a ladder against the lip edge of the sloped roof and started to climb with a loaded bucket of pebbles in his hand. “What are you doing, old man?” he asked, adopting an incredulous tone in his voice, even though he knew exactly what Okina was planning to do.

“Building a nest for pigeons,” the Kyoto-branch leader said. “They’re not going to let us go for a while and I need to send a message to Kyoto.”

“You could just ask for one,” he said, shaking his head in exasperation. “I’m sure the _Okashira_ has already sent one.”

“Ha!” Okina barked as Susumu stood back a bit to let Kai up the ladder, also holding a full bucket of pebbles. “He’s busy enough.”

He stared up at their retreating forms and gave another shake of his head. Everyone knew that Okina was the most stubborn man to have ever served in the Oniwabanshuu and always butted heads with the former _Okashira_ , even though the former leader and him were also best of friends. It would take a miracle to dissuade Okina of a course of action, and lately, the old man had started to laugh off everything and generally act a bit strange. Even with the current ruse, Susumu could not help but wonder if Okina really all right or if the old man was just burying what he really felt about the death of the former _Okashira_ under a façade of cheerfulness.

He turned and walked away as he started to hear the sounds of the pebbles being poured on a certain area of the roof and let the two shinobi be. It was almost time for what he needed to do, and though he kept his pace deliberately slow, he could feel distant eyes following him. He stopped in front of a particular partition to a room and said, “ _Fukuchou_ , I have some information for you.”

He heard some shuffling of items before Hijikata said, “Enter.”

He opened the partition and entered before closing it again, continuing to feel the eyes of the distant watchers on him, and could imagine their curiosity as to what information he had to impart onto the vice-commander. With a nod from the vice-commander, he sat and said, “We know what kind of poison it was that killed former _Okashira_ Machimaki Toshirou.”

Right on cue, a very shrill squawk of indignation sounded quite loudly throughout the entire, surprising even Susumu, for he didn’t think Okina could actually make such a noise. “You are the sorriest bunch of spies that I’ve ever seen!” Okina shouted from the rooftop while Susumu heard the pebbles that had been carried up earlier being thrown. “You call that hiding?! I can see you as plain as day you idiots!”

“Shall I go see what is going on, sir?” he politely asked, keeping his expression as mild as possible, as if it were a normal, every day occurrence that was happening.

“Do so,” the vice-commander replied, though Susumu saw the satisfied grin of retribution on Hijikata’s face. “It seems that the old man is doing some house cleaning, even though it is a bit late at night for it.”

Susumu nodded and opened the partition again, stepping out for a moment to see a rather amusing sight, had this not been already planned to have happened. One of the shinobi that had been tasked to keep an eye on them had just fallen out of a tree within the courtyard, smarting from the many pebble stings that had been inflicted on him. He heard a quiet _snickt_ behind, his second cue, and immediately stepped back in and shut the door.

“Forgive the intrusion and circumstances that had to have happened, sir,” he heard Aya state just as he turned around to see her kneeling with her head bowed towards Hijikata. “This was the only way information could be passed on to you without our Edo watchers listening in.”

“Proceed,” the vice-commander said, showing no surprise on his face as to the fact that Aya had used the adjoining room’s partition to get in.

“The poison that was used to kill the former _Okashira_ was the same kind that we encountered a little over two years ago,” Aya explained, “The Fuuma clan had tried to assassinate you and Kondo- _kyokuchou_ and had coated their blades with poison, though Susumu, Nagakura-san, and a few others ended up being cut by their blades. The poison on their blades was diluted, due to the sheathing on their blades which absorbed most of it before they bared them, which enabled us to save them. In its concentrated powder form and in a small amount of water, the poison is much more toxic, but it has a very short lifespan before the water dilutes it to the point where it acts in the same fashion as it did when the Fuuma shinobi attacked us.

“From the time Tetsunosuke-kun retrieved the tea until it was served to our former _Okashira_ was enough time to keep the poison potent. However, from what the poison did to him, I can only deduce that it was added _before_ Tetsunosuke-kun retrieved the tea, because in its concentrated form, there is supposed to be no sign of struggle or seizure. Our former _Okashira_ was supposed to just quietly die. I have to add the fact that only one of the tea cups was laced, and it was only luck that you did not drink the laced cup yourself, sir.”

Susumu had one ear towards the revealing conversation while his other senses were attuned towards the commotion outside. It was his job to ensure that even though Okina and Kai were doing quite an apt job at pelting their Edo comrades with pebbles and the other Shinsengumi and probably the Shinchougumi guards at the front gates to the guest house were roused to see what exactly was happening, there would be no ‘accidental’ eavesdropping. He knew that he was not supposed to be surprised at the level of detail that Aya could deduce about poisons from just looking at a body, since poisons were her area of expertise and the primary reason why she was not allowed to cook, but he was.

“Please take a look at this, sir,” he heard Aya say as he saw her pull out a folded sheaf of paper and push it across the tatami mats towards the vice-commander. “This contains details that I wish not to say out loud.”

The vice-commander picked up the sheaf of paper, unfolded and read it, all the while his frown getting deeper while the puffs of smoke from his thin pipe got longer and darker. After a few minutes, Hijikata merely folded back up the paper before putting it over the candle and let the flames start to lick up to the sheet and placed the burning item in the small ashtray.

Silence punctured only by the sounds of the ongoing commotion outside filled the room and when the sheaf was finally ashes, Hijikata said, “Good work, Matsumoto. Yamazaki, I think Tetsunosuke will need to walk around tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” Susumu answered.

* * *

“Recall all of them and send those who have three or more welts back to Hyottoko and Han’nya for training.”

“Yes, sir,” the shinobi replied before disappearing in a flash.

Aoshi sighed to himself, glancing around the enormous and empty room before looking back down at the many sheaf of paper and the notes in front of him. He had wondered when exactly Okina, Kai, Aya, and Susumu would tire of the many watchers he had deliberately assigned to keep an eye on the guest house. Tonight’s activities, especially in the creative fashion that Okina and Kai had pulled it off by pelting the watchers with pebbles and flushing them out of their hiding places, had only been a ruse, on Aoshi’s side.

He had purposely put those watchers there to see if anything could be done about drawing out the main culprits who had poisoned their former _Okashira_ , but it had proved fruitless. He had expected it to, but there had been a very slight nagging of hope in his heart that maybe it had, but there was no results has far as he could see. It was time to become more devious in his plan, though he was well aware that Aya still had something to tell him – something that was vital and connected to the original investigation that had started when he, his former mentor, and Kai had been sent to Kyoto.

His former mentor had stated that Yamazaki Ayumu’s death had been out of spite, and the death of the former _Okashira_ had to have been no coincidence, along with the many threats that had happened to various shinobi within their group that had been close to the former _Okashira_. Ayumu had been one of their most skilled infiltrators, earning many personal praises from their former _Okashira_. She had also been personally tasked by their former _Okashira_ , to accompany the Shinsengumi to Kyoto – she had chosen to bring her brother with her and mentor him.

Putting the blame of the death of the former _Okashira_ on the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi was sure to turn heads, though with the fever and chill still sweeping through the entire city, it was fortunate that the news had not leaked out as much. Still, all those in the Oniwabanshuu and around the barracks of the Shinchougumi were talking about it, and Aoshi knew that when meetings resumed with the Shogun, he would have to make a report to him. He hoped that the report would be positive and this current fiasco would be resolved by the time the meetings resumed, but it looked like he was running out of time to try to get to the heart of the matter.

Rumors were swirling of defection of former Shogunate forces and amassment of rebels and foreigners in the seas and near the western coast of the country. He knew that fever and chill or not, the Shogun would want take action soon. There was also the rumor of forces starting to amass just southwest of Kyoto and heading towards Kyoto and Osaka and that was very troubling to him. If the rebels took the cities, they would have clear access to Edo. There were already a few shinobi deployed out to the west, and Okina had already reported what was going on with those in Kyoto, but Aoshi knew that he needed more information from Osaka and possibly deploy a few shinobi to the north, near the Tohoku region, even though the region was loyal to the Shogunate. It never hurt to hear what troops up north were saying.

Aoshi knew that the overall war demanded his attention more than what was going on at the local level, but that did not mean he could take advantage of issuing various deployment of shinobi to hopefully ferret out the traitor or traitors.

* * *

“Sheesh! Why am I stuck in here all day when I haven’t even done anything wrong?!”

“I need help peeling potatoes and preparing meals for all of us,” Kai answered as he chucked another piece of the tuber he was currently cutting up into the bucket of already-peeled potatoes. “Each of us needs to do our part, and since the _fukuchou_ is not keeping you busy today, he let me borrow you.”

“But there’s so much else to do outside!” Tetsu groused as he roughly peeled the tuber in his hand in frustration. “I’ve been sitting in here for over half of the day already! You won’t even let me carry the meals from the kitchens to the outside. Why do I have to eat in here anyways?”

“Because someone always has to keep an eye on the stuff cooking,” he heard the big shinobi patiently answer.

“But isn’t Okina-san always the person who helps you and keeps and eye on the food while its cooking?” he asked, half-wishing that Kai would at least be nice enough and let him go before they started on the last enormous sack of potatoes.

“He’s busy today.”

To Tetsu’s relief, there was a knock on the kitchen door and the big man got up and opened it to reveal the one person that Tetsu was sure who could get him out of this bind. “Okita-san!” he cried. “Help me! I haven’t done anything wrong and Kai’s been making me peel potatoes all day!”

He heard the familiar laughter of Okita emerge a bit muffled from the large sack of food the First Unit Captain was carrying into the kitchen before setting it down. However, the person who followed Okita in caused Tetsu to drop his peeler and the tuber he was currently working on as he stood up and gaped. “W-why the hell are you dressed up like me, Susumu?!”

“Because I was ordered to, idiot,” Susumu said, dropping the sack of food he was carrying.

“Thank you for all of your hard work, Shimada-san,” Okita said, brushing his hands together to get the dirt off from the sack he had been carrying.

“It’s a very good thing you two came back now. I was about to run out of potatoes for the little one to peel—“ Kai started.

“Who are you calling little?!” Tetsu jumped in, having snatched back up his peeler and waved it threateningly at the big shinobi. “I’ll have you know that I’m almost as tall as Susumu here—“

“Tetsu-kun.”

He abruptly stopped his tirade as he heard the unusually serious tone of Okita say his name and briefly wondered if he was in big trouble because of what he just said and did as he took a slight gulp of air.

“You are free to go now, but it is important that you do not indicate to anyone that you have been in here all day. You have just returned from bringing in some food supplies under Shinchougumi guard escort. Hijikata-san is looking for you, so you will want to go quickly,” Okita explained, though there was no usual smile or grin that accompanied the words, as he knew Okita tended to do after giving a serious lecture to show him that all was fine. Okita was dead serious this time, and even the expression on the normally humorous Kai showed that what was just said was quite grave.

“Is this because they’re still watching us, even though the old man and Kai here pelted them with pebbles last night?” he asked.

“They learned their lesson,” was all Kai said.

“Okay,” he said, getting up and dusting the random peels of tuber skin off of his clothes. There were still a few things that were not entirely clear to him, but he understood most of the situation, even though it was not explicitly stated to him – and he needn’t it to be. Three, maybe two years ago, he would have, but ever since Ikedaya, he had started to understand just how dangerous and complicated the conflicts were.

He knew that somehow, the vice-commander had been set up, and since it was _he_ who had retrieved and delivered the tea, the blame should have fallen on him, but it hadn’t entirely fallen on him. Hijikata had taken most, if not all of the blame. Whatever the vice-commander was planning to get to the bottom of this he, Tetsu, was willing to help, even if it meant not receiving a prior explanation as to why he would be stuck somewhere for almost the entire day. With his resolve solid, he jogged out of the kitchen and towards where Hijikata was most likely was, ready to receive his next assignment with a whole heart.

 

Susumu had long taken off the itchy wig that had been stylized and watched as Tetsu dashed off before turning his attention back to the sacks of food and the mounds of peeled potatoes at hand. He gestured to the sacks, saying, “I checked everything, but I think Aya should double check it before it’s cooked, Kai.”

“From the kitchens, eh?”

“Yes,” he curtly answered. “I wouldn’t put it past anyone that they’d try for a second attempt.”

“But why?” Okita asked.

Susumu knew that the First Unit Captain was not asking the immediate question, but rather the long term question, and it was one that he and probably most other could only speculate upon, for there was no solid answer. There were already rumors abound that some of the Shogun’s loyal forces had actually started to defect to the rebels, and though they were only rumors, it was enough to start small rifts within the entire Shogunate. If the raging civil was not going to engulf and rip them apart first, this current situation would eventually break them.

* * *

Kai had been the one to volunteer to be on the lookout for their meeting tonight, even though yesterday’s activities with the pebbles had scattered all the watchers. They were still cautious as to who may try to listen in on their discussion, though this time, there were several more people, other than the initial three, involved.

Susumu had made his report to the vice-commander after Tetsu had received his next task, which was to wash whatever clothes they had left that had not been taken away by the Shinchougumi for their investigation. That report had caused the vice-commander to call this meeting, though he was surprised to see that both Tetsu and Okita were sitting in on this meeting too. Obviously, the vice-commander wanted the two to be there for some reason or another, but with what he knew from yesterday’s news, and the short conversations he had with Okita during his stint disguised as Tetsu, the two were already unwillingly involved in this conspiracy.

“Popularity always breeds enemies,” he heard Okina murmured in the silence that had fallen around them for a moment.

“Suggest Shinomori as the one to take over the entire network of the Shogun’s spies, thereby putting the light on Kyoto,” the vice-commander stated with a cold anger in his tone. “Ikedaya was the first of many positive rumors, and next was the defense of Hamaguri gates. We saw more action than most in Edo. The other clans were never happy with what we’ve done, so they do have justification for their spite, but to topple the Shogunate would not only require a strike at us, but also within the information network that spies bring. The two fold strike was done when Machimaki Toshirou was assassinated here to show the Shogun that we are not to be trusted and neither can the information the Kyoto shinobi obtains.”

“It can also show a false pretense for a political power play. It is known to the others that Aoshi was a part of the contingent of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu specifically assigned to the Shinsengumi,” Okina spoke up in the silence that followed the vice-commander’s brusque assessment of the situation. “Your being here along with Aoshi’s instatement as _Okashira_ was merely coincidence, but no one outside of us will see that. All they will see is a push by the Shinsengumi to gain more influence and political power, and with what your purpose of being here in Edo can confirm that assumption, even though it is false. Information is power, and we believe that it is within the Oniwabanshuu that we can find those who seek to use you in such a fashion.”

“Traitors in every organization,” Hijikata muttered before resuming his normal, cold tone, saying, “Their next move is most likely to discredit the investigation, which means information going to both the _Okashira_ and Shinchougumi _kyokuchou_ will be inaccurate to a degree.”

“Pardon me, sir,” Aya spoke up, “but I believe that assassination would be more conducive to the traitors’ plans.”

“Why is that?”

“Chaos would be sown, but there is more to it,” the _kunoichi_ said. “Aoshi and I were discussing the results that I have found for our initial investigation that brought us to Kyoto: how Yamazaki Ayumu’s cover was easily broken when she was the master infiltrator of all of us. For thirty years, the traitors have been threatening many of our operatives who worked closely with our former _Okashira_ and drove those people away from our former leader’s side. I believe that they have been planning to eventually assassinate the Shogun via the position of _Okashira_ , since he is the only one of us shinobi who directly reports to the Shogun. The formation of both the Shinsengumi and Shinchougumi merely gave them more to work with, and a portion of those traitors have already shown themselves to us.”

“The Fuuma clan,” Hijikata stated falling silent for a moment. “Their destruction over two years ago angered someone.” After a moment of silence in which his expression got a lot darker, he stated, “This is how we are going to prevent this conspiracy from going any further.” The vice-commander’s fierce gaze fell directly onto Susumu, causing him to inwardly shiver a bit before Hijikata asked, “How much food do we have left?”

“Enough for another two days and night,” he answered.

“Matsumoto, I need you to poison it tonight,” the vice-commander said.

“Yes, sir,” Aya replied, giving a curt nod of her head.

“They carefully inspected the food before giving it to us, Hijikata-san,” Okita spoke up. “We even did our own inspection before bringing the sacks back.”

“Rodents then,” Hijikata said. “Yamazaki, you will need to make a new disguise. Souji, you’re going to help him. As soon as the guards confirm that our food stock has been ruined, we’re going to send doubles of you, Souji, and you, Ichimura, out.” Confusion showed on those sitting around the place, and the vice-commander gave an annoyed snort before saying, “You told me in your report, Yamazaki, that you had a few uninvited ‘guests’ tailing you, Souji, and the guards, correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Susumu replied, having finally gotten an inkling as to what their vice-commander was going to do. “They had the presence of ill intent.”

“I expect you and Matsumoto to draw them out, find out what they want, and kill them if need be,” the vice-commander said.

“For give my interruption, but why not send all four of them out, Hijikata-dono?” Okina asked before the vice-commander could elaborate. “That way, one of the pairs can warn Aoshi and Okita- _kyokuchou_ while the other lures the ‘trackers’.”

The vice-commander made a non-committal noise before glancing over at Tetsu whom Susumu noticed, had an eager look on his face. “Absolutely not.”

The utter disappointment that covered Tetsu’s face was only eclipsed by his words as the young page said, “Why not? I have as much to be blamed for what happened because I didn’t check the tea carefully! If I had, then none of this would have happened. I want to help catch whoever is setting all of us up. Please let me help!”

“No,” Hijikata repeated, this time with more force before returning his attention to the others in the small group. “Kashiwazaki-dono, I have a few other matters to discuss with you in private.”

“I understand, sir,” the old man replied and remained seated, as Susumu, along with the others, got up and made their way out. Susumu did not miss seeing the quiet pep talk that Okita gave to a dejected-looking Tetsu as they left and closed the partition to the room.

“Hey kid,” he said, causing Tetsu to turn around from where he was stalking off to. He hoped that perhaps his words would sink in better than a firmly negative denial by the Vice-Commander. “Save your anger for the rebels. Don’t waste it here.”

 

~*~*~*~


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 9.2**

 

The stench of rotting food was overwhelming enough that most of them stayed in the guest house just to get away from the smell. Even the Shinchougumi guards who came to verify indeed that their food stores were completely rotten had merely taken one peek inside the kitchens before backing far away. This gave the Shinsengumi and four members of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu the opportunity to put their plan into action…

“This is very itchy.”

“Don’t scratch it,” Susumu advised as he made some minor adjustments to the wig sitting on Aya’s head. “You’ll just make it worse. Sit still, I need to add some color and shape to your eyebrows and face.”

“I should have grown my hair out,” Aya grumbled as she obeyed, though Susumu saw her roll her eyes in slight annoyance as the two of them heard the snicker of laughter coming from the corner of the room where Okita was laying out the last of the clothes for Susumu’s disguise. The kunoichi had already changed into her disguise before donning the wig.

“Hey, Kashiwazaki-san sent me here with a message for you, Susumu,” the muffled voice of Tetsu sounded through the partition to the room the three of them were in. “Can I come in?”

“Knock yourself out, kid,” he answered, as he applied the finishing touches to Aya’s disguise. He heard the partition open and close and the familiar footsteps of Tetsu approach before the young page flopped down onto the floor and held out a folded paper.

“Wow, you really look like Okita-san,” Tetsu commented towards Aya as Susumu took the piece of paper, opened it and scanned the contents.

“Erm…thanks…I think,” the disguised kunoichi said.

“You do not sound like me at all,” Okita said from where he was, still laughing a bit.

“Change of orders, Aya,” he interrupted all of them, before handing over the sheet of paper to Aya who scanned it and frowned.

“How in the world did the old man convince…?” Aya started then trailed off.

“What?” Tetsu asked, trying to see what was written on the paper before Aya roughly crumpled it up and handed it back to Susumu to be burned.

“Looks like the two of you are participating in this mission,” he said, giving both Tetsu and Okita a look of resignation.

“They will be expecting us out there very soon, then,” Okita replied, and hurried to retrieve a second set of nearly identical clothing to what Aya was dressed in before taking a cursory look at Tetsu to ensure that the clothing that was laid out for Susumu was close enough as a match.

“Tetsu will be traveling with Aya. You’ll be traveling with me,” Susumu answered, thinking quickly over a plan of action. “Aya and Tetsu will be leaving first and we’re going to wait about thirty minutes before we head out.”

“We’ll head towards the kitchens first, then,” Aya said, accepting the over-jacket that was handed to her by Okita who had finished laying out the clothes and had come to sit with them and listen to the plan. Susumu noted that the over-jacket was the same one that Okita had worn the previous day when he and Susumu had been out to pick up food and some information from the main kitchens. He glanced over to where the clothes were laid out and saw a similar one, except that it was a slightly different color, larger than the one Okita had worn the day before, and looked like it was someone else’s jacket.

Susumu was very glad that he and Tetsu were nearly the same height and size, and he didn’t have to adjust the clothing he borrowed from Tetsu, like he had done three years ago. The same could not be said about Aya and Okita. Aya was about a half-head shorter than the First Unit Captain, but with a bit of rough tailoring that had been done until the middle of the night, the borrowed clothing fit. At least the jackets that would be worn on both Aya and Okita were oversized for their own height and frame.

“It’s the shortest, most direct route to where Aoshi is,” Aya continued to say. “We’ll warn him. When in your journey yesterday, did you start to feel the presences, Susumu?”

“Not until we started on our way back, taking the longer route to pass by the Shinchougumi barracks so they could switch guards,” he replied. “We can take that route to get to the kitchens and warn the _kyokuchou_. We’ll meet you in the kitchens if all goes well.”

“If those presences try to strike, they will not do so when we are near the barracks,” Okita spoke up, his tone cold. “They will either strike when you are crossing the bridge on the short route to the kitchens or at the outer walls towards the barracks.”

“We can’t go visibly armed,” Aya said, reaching over for her pack that was sitting near the partition wall where they were gathered. She pulled out a short blade and handed it to Tetsu who took the object and stared at it in awe before pulling out the blade and examining it before putting it back into the sheathe. “Put this somewhere on you for easy access just in case you do get attacked, kid,” she told him.

“You’d better be going,” Susumu warned, just as they all heard a loud but muffled crash of a few items being tossed outside, along with a few carefully chosen swears issuing from Kai as he was tasked to clean out the ruined kitchens.

Without another word and only a nod of confirmation, Aya stood up and by the time she reached far side of the room, Tetsu had snapped out of his funk and scrambled up to join her. As soon as the partition closed again, Susumu pulled out a mirror from his pack and started to carefully apply his own disguise.

“I wonder what words did Kashiwazaki-san say to cause Hijikata-san to change his mind,” he heard Okita say.

* * *

Tetsu was slightly unnerved by the ease in which Aya had assumed the role of Okita during their walk towards the main kitchens. The two Shinchougumi members that had accompanied them had not even suspected that anything was different and thus Tetsu remained quiet but also finally glad that he was allowed out of the guest house. He had been warned by Aya prior to them stepping out that being his usual cheerful self would not help Susumu in his disguise, but there was no need for her to have said that to him.

The events that had happened in the past few days already weighed heavily on his mind, and thus though he was happy to be out, he kept himself quiet. He also had been looking around, trying to spot the people that had followed Susumu, Okita, and their guards the day before, but ended up catching a glare of anger from Aya before she had resumed her own disguise. He didn’t need a verbal explanation from her to know that he was to stop his attempts at looking for people trying to follow them.

They made it to the main kitchens without incident and Tetsu breathed a sigh of relief as the guards led them to the area where they would be gathering the food they need. The area was virtually empty at this early hour, and he knew from previous experience that most of the cooks and servants were either around the castle or around the areas where vassals to the Shogun were being housed.

“Ah, Tetsu-kun, would you please go retrieve the beets and daikon radishes? They should be near the shed,” Aya said in a fairly good imitation of Okita’s voice, though Tetsu swore he could have heard a very small inflection of Aya’s Kyoto-accent lacing the words. He knew that most of the Shinsengumi, including Okita, spoke with an Edo-accent, and though a Kyoto-accent was common, it was not often heard outside of the city itself. The most jarring accent he had ever heard, barring the Japanese-English mixture of words that he heard from both his father and the strange ronin Sakamoto Ryouma, was Kai’s Osaka-accent.

Tetsu rounded the corner, searching for the requested items, but before he took two steps towards the burlap sacks, he heard two rather loud, muffled thumps. He turned back around to see the Shinchougumi guards that had accompanied them sway a bit, dizzied before they fell back, knocked out cold by Aya who had been standing in the middle of them. He needed no orders from the kunoichi to help her move the guards to a less conspicuous location.

“Hurry,” was all Aya said as the two of them quickly, but quietly snuck out of the kitchen storages and headed towards the area where Tetsu could only assume that Aoshi was.

They met up with Aoshi _and_ the Shinchougumi commander in the middle of an empty street near some buildings that looked shuttered after stepping out from a side street that had been covered by small trees. Tetsu saw that both men were looked a bit on edge. He wondered what was going on and soon received his answer.

“ _Okashira, Kyokuchou_ ,” Aya said, greeting the two faction commanders while dropping all pretenses of behaving like Okita, along with and the Edo-accent as she bowed towards them. “It is I, Matsumoto Aya, in disguise. Ichimura and I have come to bring you a warning and some information.”

“Speak,” the Shinchougumi commander tersely ordered as Tetsu saw Aoshi nod once in assent.

“The poison that was used to kill our former _Okashira_ was the same one that was used by the Fuuma clan when they tried to assassinate Kondou- _kyokuchou_ and Hijikata- _fukuchou_ two years prior. There were three survivors who escaped when we raided their base. We have reason to believe that they or someone affiliated with them will be attempting an assassination on either both of you or attempt the same frame-up as was done on Hijikata- _fukuchou_ recently. We know not of their goal and can only assume that chaos is one of their goals in order to lure out the Shogun or infiltrate during the chaos and possibly assassinate him,” she said.

“I have also come to the same conclusion,” Aoshi said, nodding in agreement with the assessment. “Okita- _kyokuchou_ has told me that last night, two of his men guarding the guest house thought they saw unusual shadows stalking the perimeter of the house.”

“Why are you disguised as my brother, Matsumoto-san?” Commander Okita suddenly asked.

“I apologize for the deception, sir,” Aya said, “it was a necessary measure and a part of the plan that Hijikata- _fukuchou_ came up with. Yamazaki, disguised as Ichimura here, and your brother were sent out yesterday to retrieve some food for our stores from the kitchen. Our _fukuchou_ thought it an opportunity to gather some information to our own investigation into the death of the former _Okashira_. During their assignment, both Yamazaki and your brother sensed presences with ill intent tailing them. Hijikata- _fukuchou_ had me disguised as your brother and Yamazaki as Ichimura again. We’ve split into pairs to try to provoke the shadows into doing something while retrieving more food stores this morning. Your brother and Yamazaki were to be making their way towards you at the barracks via the main road.”

“They are walking into a trap then,” Tetsu heard the Shinchougumi commander state. “I was just informed by one of my captains that several of members of the Shinchougumi were found slain. Their bodies had been hidden in one of the unused guest houses near here – they had been poisoned in the same fashion as the former _Okashira_ had been. They were the same men that had been patrolling the main road early this morning. We have a strong reason to believe that the assassins may still be in the area.”

“What are we standing around here for!” he exclaimed. “We have to stop them! Let’s go!”

* * *

“What’s going on, Okita-san?” Susumu asked in as best of Tetsu’s intonation and pitch as possible, though he was well aware that _something_ was making all of them uneasy as they walked the sparsely populated road. Their two escorts who had initially questioned the fact that they thought they had saw Tetsu and Okita leave about thirty minutes before Susumu and the real Okita had appeared, were also alert and looking around.

The merry expression that the First Unit Captain usually wore had all but disappeared in the last few minutes of their walk through the long way to get to the kitchens. Susumu had kept his senses alert for anything, but all he could feel was the heavy weight of presences with ill intent stalking them.

Unfortunately, he never received his answer for not a moment after he asked his question, two lightning-quick glints of metal flashed across the air and embedded themselves into the neck of the two Shinchougumi guards. Both he and Okita were instantly on guard as the dead bodies of their guards thumped to the ground. They stopped and looked around, searching for any sign of the enemy, on the lookout for any other flying projectiles.

“Give it up, Shogunate dogs,” an unfamiliar voice said as three black-clothed shinobi appeared in front of them, armed to the teeth. “You won’t be able to kill us before we kill _her_.”

One of the shinobi who had been partially blocked from Susumu’s view stepped forward and Susumu clenched his jaw in anger – Machimaki Misao, the granddaughter of the former _Okashira_ , was being held hostage. The child was not squirming, but she was looking quite wide-eyed with fear and from this distance, he could tell that the shinobi had placed certain pressure points to paralyze her and keep her from screaming. Those same pressure points that had been placed was also slowly siphoning air from her lungs with each breath she took, and Susumu could see a very thin line of blue start to appear around the child’s lips; little Misao was going to die from the lack of air in a few minutes even if he and Okita did nothing.

“There are only three of them. Leave them to me. Get the child and run as fast as you can,” Okita said in an icy tone to Susumu as he saw him crouch slightly with an arm extended towards one of the Shinchougumi guards’ swords.

“I would not do that,” a new voice said from behind them, causing them to turn slightly to see two more dark-clothed shinobi standing behind them, their weapons bared. “Even you, Shinsengumi First Unit Captain, cannot possibly move fast enough to stop all of us.”

Susumu swallowed hard to keep the shock from appearing on his face – it was unbelievable yet the solid proof was there. Susumu _knew_ them…the two shinobi that had just arrived and surrounded them – every single one of the Oniwabanshuu knew the two. How could the two closest advisors to the former _Okashira_ have turned traitor?

“Let the child go,” Okita said, the tone of his voice even more frigid than before. “Cowards only hide behind hostages.”

“On the contrary, we need all three of you,” one of the traitorous shinobi spat out, her tone venomous. “Just be good dogs of Mibu, lie down, and die for your lost cause.”

“You can never tame the demonic wolves of Mibu,” Susumu thought he heard Okita say, but caught out of the corner of his eyes, the three shinobi surrounding the child turning towards the voice that had said that statement from behind them. Even the two in front of Susumu and Okita had briefly flicked their gaze towards the new arrivals. Though both Susumu and Okita kept an eye on both factions, neither of them had moved just yet – the child’s life was still in danger, and Susumu could see the minutes slowly trickle by that the young girl had left before she could not breathe anymore.

However, it seemed that reinforcements for Susumu and Okita had arrived, in the form of their counterparts, Tetsu and Aya, along with Aoshi and the Shinchougumi commander.

* * *

Tetsu could clearly see the confusion spread on the five dark-clothed shinobi who were flicking their eyes back and forth between the two pairs of identical-looking people. Even if they were not identical-looking, he knew his eyes matched the anger in Susumu’s eyes. Had he been paying attention to more than the situation in front of him, he would have noticed that both Okita _and_ Aya sported the exactly same cold, almost demonic demeanor. Instead, his attention had been drawn to the fact that there was a young girl that one of the three shinobi in front of them was holding, and she was oddly-enough, not struggling, though Tetsu could see the absolute terror in her eyes.

Before the Shinchougumi commander could whistle for assistance, it was Aya who sprang into action first in a move so fast that Tetsu missed it when he blinked between seeing her standing next to him and then suddenly slamming into the three shinobi holding the young child hostage. He saw the young child sail through the air, just as Okita charged, snatching up a katana from the scabbards of two dead Shinchougumi guards, and not a moment later did Susumu, Aoshi, and Commander Okita attack.

Tetsu snatched the child out of the air and immediately rolled to his right, clutching the child as close to his chest as possible, just as he felt several small blades pass perilously close to where his head used to be. Whoever had thrown the knives did not throw anymore, for he finished his roll only to see Aoshi engaging one of the shinobi in a blur of fists and legs. As he rolled up to a crouch, still holding the young girl close to him, he saw Okita’s sword viciously glint in the morning sunlight for a moment before a gush of blood accompanied the movement as two of the five dark-clothed shinobi fell to the ground, dead. An instant later, another dark-clothed shinobi crumpled to the ground with his neck snapped at an unnatural angle, as he saw Susumu standing over the shinobi’s body with a vacant look on his face.

“Aya-nee!” he said, snapping out of his fugue as he saw beyond the dead shinobi and before the two disabled shinobi that Aoshi and the Shinchougumi commander had attacked, the unmoving body of Aya, still dressed in disguise but without a wig on, for that had been most likely torn off during the brutally brief fray. He could only see the handle of a blade sticking out of the top right side of her back; the rest sunken into her flesh.

* * *

“Aya-nee!”

Susumu’s look of disdain at the corpse of the traitorous shinobi that he had snapped the neck of melted into one of grave concern as the field doctor instincts he had developed over took his senses and he turned around to see the unmoving body of his friend.

He was barely aware that the rest of the Shinchougumi, summoned by the piercing whistle of their commander, had arrived and had surrounded the place – or that Aoshi had rushed past them to snatch the girl out of Tetsu’s hands to place the counter pressure points on her so she could breathe again. He was instead, crouched next to Aya and gently turned her so that she was lying on her side. Hope that was immediately quashed by panic then overridden by the training he had received from Dr. Matsumoto steadied his hands as he saw the very shallow rise and fall of Aya’s nose, indicating that she was still alive, though barely conscious, judging from the fluttering of her eyelids.

The small blade that one of the hostage-takers had held near Misao had been deeply stabbed into her back when she had snatched the child out of enemy hands and had thrown the child clear of the fray. It was covered in sticky blood – he mentally shook his head and refocused himself – no, there was something else – the wound was deep, but recoverable – Aya was having trouble breathing…

He quickly opened one of her eyes while steadying her on her side – dilated pupils, shallow breathing – he touched the side of her neck – weak, uneven pulse…she had been poisoned. Gently setting her back so that she was lying on her stomach but her face turned to the side, he tore off the wig he was wearing and wrapped it around his hand. Susumu knew from experience that taking out a blade so deeply embedded within a person should not be done until tourniquets could be made around the body to slow the blood flow, but he had a hunch that whatever had poisoned Aya had come from the blade.

It was a risk he had to take and he quickly yanked the sticky blade out, watching as hot red blood gushed out as soon as the pressure from the blade had been lifted. There was a minute ease of breathing he saw on her face, but as he quickly placed the blade and the ruined red-haired wig down and ripped up pieces of the overcoat she had been wearing into strips to tie and slow the blood loss, he glanced back at the wound. There was already too much blood…

* * *

“…was the extent of the report we have given to the Shogun, Hijikata-san,” Susumu heard the Shinchougumi commander say. “Please accept my personal apologies for having have placed you and your people under house arrest.”

“You need not apologize, _Kyokuchou_ , for I would have done the same, had I been in your place. However, out of consideration for everything, I will accept it. Let us not speak of it again,” the vice-commander said.

All those who had participated in the events of the morning, minus the injured, were gathered around the largest room in the guest house, discussing what had happened, though it had mainly been Aoshi and Commander Okita who had given the briefing to Vice-Commander Hijikata. The rest of them, him, Kai, old man Okina, Tetsu, and Okita, had been sitting in relative silence, listening to the entire complex web of investigation that sounded almost like a tale.

He glanced over at Tetsu, noticing that the young page had a forlorn look about him and had not said more than five words since the morning’s events. Even with him trying to rile up Tetsu throughout the day was a chore that he eventually gave up and let the kid be. He knew Tetsu had not closed himself to the world as he did three years ago after Ayumu’s death, but rather, he suspected that Tetsu still felt guilty over the entire incident, even if an apology had been given to the entire Shinsengumi. It was something that time and reflection would only heal, and Susumu let his friend be.

The surviving traitors, two former advisors to the former _Okashira_ , had been interrogated rather…roughly…though Susumu himself thought that was quite a mild word to have used to describe how Aoshi and the Shinchougumi commander had gotten their information. The traitors were still tied up in the now-seldom used Oniwabanshuu summer training areas, for Susumu understood that there was more information that Aoshi wanted out of the traitors, but were not for either the Shogun, Shinchougumi, or Shinsengumi ears.

Susumu knew that the entire elaborate set-up to discredit the Shinsengumi and eventually implicate the Shinchougumi in foul deeds against the Shogun was only a part of the bigger chain that had been going on for a very long time. He dared not look directly at his _Okashira_ , but he knew that Aoshi would be ‘cleaning house’ if they, the Oniwabanshuu, were ever to be completely trusted by any party they worked with in the future. He briefly wondered if their former _Okashira_ had foreseen something of this nature and had specifically chosen Aoshi to become their new _Okashira_ and had him sent through that brutal challenge and kill one of their own in preparation for something like this.

“Yamazaki, what of our kunoichi?” the vice-commander asked in the silence that followed.

“Sir,” he said, bowing his head slightly, “the doctors have stitched up her wound and the poison has been drained, but given the extent of the poison combined with the injury, the chances of her survival are slim. _If_ she lives through the night, there is a chance she will make a full recovery.”

* * *

The sun was starting to touch the horizon when the meeting finished and each of them left, one by one. Despite the thick layer of clothing he wore, Okita could feel the cool autumn night of Edo work its way through him and suppressed the chilly shudder that threatened to overtake him. As he stepped out into the walkway, he turned slightly to see the shinobi, Kashiwazaki Nenji, stay behind, wanting to talk to Hijikata in private. He closed the partition, but instead of walking away, he sat himself on the walkway, his legs hanging over the edge and waited patiently until the old shinobi was done conversing.

It was the same look, the same expression, and the same mood that Hijikata had fallen into when Ayumu had been killed three years ago, and Okita wanted to reassure his vice-commander that it was not his, Hijikata’s, fault, just like it had been the same for Ayumu’s death. This time, there was no outlet for blood that Hijikata could take his anger to, except for a vast web of conspiracy that he could only guess and pluck at from afar.

“… _took Ayumu and Susumu in when they were children and raised them. Their parents had died of cholera. Both of them served the Edo region until Ayumu was hand-picked by our former_ Okashira _to accompany the Shinsengumi to Kyoto. She decided to bring her brother with her.”_

“ _And Shimada? I heard he has a wife and that she serves under your command in Kyoto.”_

“ _That is true, Hijikata-dono. Kai’s parents passed away from natural causes when he was young. He had a brother who was on assignment in Hiroshima when he was killed. He and his wife were married just before our former_ Okashira _assigned the two of them to Kyoto. They have no children. At the request of our former_ Okashira _, Kai returned to Edo and was sent to the Tohoku region for three years before being assigned to the Shinsengumi.”_

“ _What of Matsumoto?”_

“ _Aya has one surviving member of her family; the child that the traitors were holding hostage this morning, Machimaki Misao, is her niece. Her father was our former Okashira. Misao-chan’s mother is her half-sister by the way of their father, was poisoned four years ago while defending our former Okashira from assassins and died the day Aoshi took command of us. Her mother…”_

“Her mother was killed while defending my elder sister, my brother-in-law, their children, and I from would-be assassins,” Okita quietly murmured to himself, unintentionally overhearing the conversation between Hijikata and Kashiwazaki. “It happened five years ago…during the summer festivals in Edo.”

“… _forgive me for intruding upon you, but might I ride with your people when you leave Edo? I will be taking the child with me, for I believe that she will be safer in Kyoto than in Edo and in this web of poisonous spiders.”_

“ _Do what you will, Kashiwazaki-san and thank you for the answers.”_

Okita heard the partition open and looked up to see the grizzled old man step out before giving him a polite bow and closed the partition. He waited until the old man turned the corner of the guest house before getting up from where he was sitting.

“Hijikata-san,” he said out loud and waited a few moments before opening the partition that would lead him into the room. The vice-commander was still sitting in the same position as he remembered when the meeting had ended, except that the vice-commander’s face was leaning into a hand and his eyes were closed.

Okita read the same guilt, anger, and disgrace on the vice-commander’s expression that he had seen three years ago when Ayumu had been killed. “Hijikata-san,” he said again as he stepped in and approached, stopping only a few paces away. “It’s not your fault.”

 

~*~*~*~


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 9.3**

 

_Three days later…_

 

The last of the cloth bandage that had been wrapped around her shoulder and torso came off with a slight hitch and pull on her skin, but the pain was minute compared to many other types of injuries she had sustained in the field. The cool air felt good on the wound, though she could smell the dried blood that had been caked on her skin by the bandage.

“Ah, good job Megumi,” the doctor, Takani Ryuusei said. “Put the cloth over there with the others and bring it outside. Please also prepare the new cloths while I have a look at our patient.”

“Hai, otousan,” the young girl said and scampered off to complete her tasks.

Though Aya occasionally glanced over to see what the young girl was doing, she stiffened a bit as a delicate but cold metal thing touched the area where her wound was. She could feel the gentle poke and scrape of dried blood coming off of her skin as the doctor carefully examined the wound before removing the metal item from her back and leaned back a bit. She tried to turn her head to see what exactly it was that had been touching her back and wound with such alacrity as a blade sunken into the flesh of an enemy, but she could feel the pull of the wound that was not quite yet completely healed or sealed.

“Your wound is healing well, Matsumoto-san,” Dr. Takani said. “There isn’t the smell of gangrene at all. In a few days you should be able to start doing some light exercises.”

“How long will it take for me to regain full mobility?” she asked.

“Not for another few months, I’m afraid,” the doctor replied. “The wound directly cut into muscle fibers that will take a while to heal, and if you start straining yourself too much, they’ll just keep on tearing and not heal properly enough.”

“It’s too long,” she muttered. She needed to return to action sooner rather than later, and truth be told, she did not want to be left behind in Edo when Kai and Susumu would depart with the Shinsengumi. In her three years of serving the group, she had found herself actually liking the assignment, which was a first for her, for she never had liked to stay in one place for long. Even though Edo was her home base for a very long time, she had only spent only a few weeks at most, each year since the beginning of her field assignments, during times where she did not have an assignment lined up.

She had barely remembered anything the first night after she had been wounded, but she had woken up the next morning feeling weak but much better than the feverish dream she had found herself in. It was in the afternoon of that same day that Dr. Takani had transferred her to a more isolated room where she could recover in peace. Now, three days after the attack, she felt stronger and better than she had in a very long time.

“With care, you should be able to regain half-mobility by the winter,” Dr. Takani patiently said as she saw out of the corner of her eyes, the doctor gesturing for his daughter to bring the clean cloths to him. “I can give you some medicine that will help stimulate the healing process a little.”

“Thank you, sensei,” she said as she felt the doctor daub some strange-smelling ointment onto her wound with a cloth before smaller hands pressed a soft, cotton strip of cloth onto her back and started to wrap it around her body. Aya sat in silence as the young daughter of the doctor deftly bandaged her wound while she heard some herbal items being bagged by the doctor.

“Matsumoto-san,” the young girl said from her right, causing her to turn a bit to see the girl holding out a sleeve of the top-half of the autumn yukata; the rest of the yukata was firmly cinched at her waist. She gingerly slipped her arm into it, careful not to pull too much on her injury and after the girl had gently secured it to her shoulder; she was helped into the left sleeve. The knot that had held the outside was loosened a bit as the girl helped move the left side on top of the right side and re-tied the over knot. The girl then took the sling and helped her put her right arm into it and fastened it over her opposite shoulder. Dr. Takani had explained earlier during the examination that allowing her arm to rest in this position helped speed up the healing by reducing the swelling at the injury site.

“Thank you, Megumi-chan,” she politely said, turning to face Dr. Takani as the young girl beamed up at her and scrambled back to her father who had finished laying out the packets of medicine. “Thank you, Takani-sensei.”

“There is no need to thank me, Matsumoto-san,” the doctor kindly replied. “Just be sure you crush these fresh and take half of a packet once a day for the next two weeks. I have already prepared a packet for you for today and tomorrow. Please take care not to injure yourself in the future.”

With a polite bow after packing up their items, the doctor and his daughter left. Only a few minutes had passed in silence before Aya heard two pairs of feet on the walkway approach her room. One was light and the other was heavy, and not a moment later did she hear a familiar child’s voice say from the other side of the partition, “Can we come in, Aya-oba?”

“We?” she questioned, as the partition into the room was cracked open by her niece without an affirmation. She didn’t mind that Misao was only five years of age and had not that much of a concept of waiting for an answer before jumping straight into the ‘fray’, but she was curious about the ‘we’ statement. She recognized Misao’s presence, but the presence that accompanied her was different than who she had expected to be at Misao’s side.

“I apologize,” the other guest spoke up as she saw another familiar-looking person follow Misao in, holding a tray that had three tea cups on it. “I saw Misao-chan coming out of the kitchens with the tea cups and tray. I did not want her to carry such a heavy object all the way here, so I helped her.”

“Soujirou wouldn’t take no for an answer, Aya-oba,” little Misao protested, pouting a bit as she sat down on the futon. “I told him I was strong enough, but he still wouldn’t let me!”

“Always the gallant one, aren’t you, Souji?” she said in a jesting tone to the young Shinsengumi captain, allowing herself to drop all the emotional shields she had built up since the beginning of her service as an assassin for the Oniwabanshuu. It was only in front of her niece that she had ever allowed herself the luxury of any sort of emotional attachment, for she loved her niece and of late, the girl was the only family she had left to fight for. Shinsengumi First Unit Captain Souji Okita was the only other rare exception, but the last time she had spoken with this much degree of emotion or even in a frank tone to him was when the Shinsengumi had been called Roshigumi.

“And Misao-chan, you should be using honorifics whenever your speaking to others,” she said, gently rebuking the young child. Even though Misao was most likely going to become a shinobi, Aya still wanted her niece to learn how to be polite to people.

“But you don’t!” Misao countered, folding her chubby arms across her chest, giving her a reproachful look.

“It’s because I’m friends with him,” she patiently replied, though the gesture that Misao had just done struck a pang of sadness within her – both her half-sister and father had done the gesture numerous times whenever a trainee was not doing so well at presenting information.

“Then I wanna be friends too!” the young child said, as Aya noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Souji had knelt down and placed the tray on the floor. She also saw the unmistakable outline of a sword scabbard hidden under the over jacket and saw him take the single sword he had worn in the belt of the hakama out, place it on the tatami mat, and sit down next to the sword.

“I think we are friends already, Misao-chan,” Souji answered with a sunny smile on his face.

“Yay!”

“You’re wearing a sword, Souji,” she said, gesturing with her eyes to the sword sitting on the tatami mat, as she accepted the tea cup that her niece eagerly handed to her from the tray. She took a sip of the tea and let it sit in her hand on her lap before continuing to say, “You’ve never carried a sword when you’re not on duty.”

“Considering recent circumstances,” Souji quietly said in a serious tone, “I felt it would be better to be armed.”

Aya chose not to reply to that explanation, for she understood just how drastic of a measure it had to be for her long-time friend to take up a sword when in the presence of children. In a way, she was glad that Misao was not alone when the young girl had attempted to try to walk all the way from the kitchens to her quarters without an escort of some sort. Though she was sure that all the traitors to the Oniwabanshuu had been either killed or captured, the fact that it was a conscious decision on Souji’s part to wear a sword around children made her a bit worried.

“Does it hurt, Aya-oba?” Misao asked after she had taken a few sips of her tea.

Aya wiggled her injured shoulder slightly and let the arm in the sling swing a bit, even though she could feel the acute pull and twinges of pain from the newly-healed skin and muscle in a mad protest to her actions. “Nah,” she casually said. “Takani-sensei said that it’s healing properly.”

“Did he give you medicine?” she asked, leaning eagerly forward.

“Yes,” she said, shaking her head a bit in exasperation. When she had left Edo, Misao was a very curious and precocious two-year-old and had already memorized several plant names better than she could remember basic things. Aya had found her niece sitting in the same room she was currently occupying, playing with wooden practice throwing knives and dividing poppy seeds into little packets before claiming that she was going to feed the birds their medicine so they could fly and she could practice her throwing knife skills.

“They’re over there,” she continued, gesturing slightly with her hand that was holding the tea. “Please don’t mix them up and no, you cannot give them to the birds to practice throwing knives at them.” As the young girl scrambled up and scampered over to take a look at the packets, Aya heard a muffled laughter coming from Souji and merely shrugged, giving her friend a slightly exasperated look.

“Aya-oba,” Misao began, coming back with a packet. “This one is all crushed up.”

“Ah,” she said, reaching slightly out with the arm in a sling and took the packet from her curious niece. “I’m supposed to take this one later today.”

“Does it taste funny? Okaasan gave me some before when I had a fever and it tasted bitter and weird,” the young girl said. “It was yucky.”

“Well, Misao-chan,” Souji spoke up, “they do say that the best healing medicines are the ones that taste the worst.”

“You’ve taken really bitter medicine before, Soujirou?” Misao asked. “I thought all samurai were strong and healthy. You don’t look like you get sick easily.”

“Hmm,” Aya interrupted before either her niece or Souji could say anything else. She had not missed the look of surprise that had briefly appeared then disappear on her friend’s face at Misao’s words. She knew that Misao’s curiosity would eventually lead to a topic that at least the child should not hear discussed, for it would only dishearten her, thus her interruption into the conversation before it could continue. “I’ve been cooped up in here for quite a while,” she continued, “Walking would be a good exercise for me while I’m talking with both of you. What do you say?”

“Some fresh autumn air of Edo would be good for all of us,” Souji agreed as Misao eagerly nodded and took the cups of tea back and placed them on the tray.

“You can leave the cups and tray here, Misao-chan,” she said as she saw her niece attempt to lift the tray up. “We can clean it up later. I need your help to get my over jacket.”

“Okay!” her niece said, happily complying just as she heard Souji get up and prepare himself.

Minutes later, with a keen and enthusiastic assistance from Misao, she was ready. As soon as she stepped off the walkway and into her wooden slippers, Misao took her uninjured hand and dragged her slightly forward, saying, “I want to go to the gardens!”

“We have plenty of time, Misao-chan,” she said, holding her niece back a bit as she heard Souji openly chuckle at Misao’s antics and smiled to herself. Laughter was a seldom sound she heard and in her years of field service, she had almost forgotten what a genuine, hearty laugh sounded like.

The three of them traveled down the slightly dusty road with Misao chattering almost non-stop and occasionally Souji or Aya would say something in return, though Misao still attempted to drag Aya faster than they were walking. About a half-hour after the three of them had started on their walk towards Edo Castle’s gardens, they turned the corner to enter the trickling stream of people traffic that were passing through the outer gates.

“Aoshi-sama!” she heard Misao cry she spotted their _Okashira_ among the thin crowd streaming out from within the castle grounds. She could see the hardened demeanor of Aoshi soften as soon as he saw Misao with them, but she had also spotted a cloth wrapping around one of his hands. What had happened?

Misao tugged at her hand and Aya let her go as she watched her niece dash up to Aoshi and embrace him, or rather, embrace his legs, since she was still a child. She could not help but smirk at the sight of her five-year-old niece embracing their _Okashira_ without a care in the world or a sense of proper etiquette. If Aoshi still looked almost the same he did in ten or eleven years…well, she could only imagine the possible greeting that an older Misao may give to their _Okashira_.

“ _Okashira_ ,” she greeted him formally and bowed slightly, with the smiled wiped off her face as soon as Aoshi had extricated himself from Misao’s embrace and approached. She was in the public eye again, and all of her emotional shields were back in place.

“Sensei,” Aoshi answered her in an equally formally fashion, surprising her, though she did not let it show on her face. “Okita-sensei,” Aoshi said, greeting Souji. “I am glad to see that both of you are doing better.”

“ _Okashira_ , I do not mean to intrude, but what happened to your hand?” she bluntly said, pointing to it, as Misao looked at the wrapped hand with wide-eyes. She knew that eventually, Misao would pepper Aoshi with the question and decided to preempt the question, hopefully allowing her former apprentice to answer without the curiosity of Misao poking holes into the excuse.

“I sprained it…down in the summer training halls.”

“If you do not mind me suggesting, _Okashira_ , perhaps a walk around the gardens would help alleviate the pain?” she said. “Misao-chan has not seen you in a while and I would like to examine the items in the training halls to ensure that our trainees will not hurt themselves as you have done.”

“Do as you wish,” Aoshi said, giving her a nod just as Misao protested the decision.

“Misao-chan, there is always tomorrow,” she said, allowing only a trickle of warmth through her voice to hopefully assuage her niece.

“Okay,” the young girl reluctantly replied before taking Aoshi’s uninjured hand.

As soon as they left, she heard Souji say, “They took them down there to be interrogated. You should not go there, Aya. Women should not sully their eyes at such things.”

“You forget what I had been and still am for the past thirteen years of my life, Souji,” she replied, taking no offense at the comment her friend had made.

She knew that what she did was starkly against the grain of what Japanese women did in society, even among her own people and especially among kunoichi. She didn’t need to say the rest of her words out loud; for it would only attract the wrong kind of attention and the people passing them or milling about didn’t need to know. Assassination, especially open assassination for a shinobi was a primarily male occupation (with the exception of assassination by poison that was mainly carried out by disguised kunoichi), and as far as she knew, she was the only kunoichi among all spy clans to have been given open assassination assignments for the past thirteen years.

Without waiting for an answer from her friend, she fell in step into the streaming crowd, hearing Souji fall into step next to her. She headed towards the entrance that would take them to the underground storage areas, where the two surviving traitors to the Oniwabanshuu had been taken.

Their walk was tense and silent, and as they approached, the two Shinchougumi guards who were at the door way initially barred their entrance until they folded slightly under the withering glare that Aya gave them for a very long minute before stating that the _Okashira_ had given her permission to enter. That statement was confirmed by a single curt nod from Souji and finally, the guards allowed them to enter.

Even though Aya wanted to get to the area where the traitors were being held as fast as possible, the slippery steps of the stone stairs leading down to the area prevented her from charging ahead. She kept her balance and carefully descended, using the firelight burning on the torches that hung around the place to see where the condensation of water was on the steps.

The last step in the stairs was the one to take them into the threshold and they were immediately assaulted with a foul and putrid scent in the air that only got stronger as the approached the end of the hall that would take them into the area where the traitors were being held. Aya plucked the last torch in the hall from its hold and held it in front of her as she entered the darkened area.

The glint of metal clasps on thick rope that was normally used on ships reflected the firelight. Two people hung nearly lifelessly from the ropes, their blood slicked down on their bodies, reflecting in the firelight and slowly dripping to the floor. Aya approached the nearest one and held the torch close to the traitor as she walked around; examining what exactly had been done to torture the traitor into revealing his secrets. With each step she took around the first shinobi, she could feel her anger grow and was slightly startled when she heard a moan of pain escape from the traitor’s lips. She stepped back so that she was face-to-face with the traitor and watched as the shinobi slowly opened his eyes, looking blearily at her.

“The little imp comes to see her victory?” the shinobi hissed as Aya saw his eyes slowly focus on his surroundings before turning to her. “Brought your little demon wolf protector with you, eh?” Despite the injuries done, the traitorous shinobi managed to crack a conceited-looking grin, saying, “You smell like one.”

There was an unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn quite quickly; its owner incensed at the traitor’s goading insult. Aya’s injured arm protested the sudden movement that she made by holding her hand up to prevent Souji from getting any closer. She dipped the torch a little bit closer to the traitor, watching is eyes widen a bit as the flame was now burning a very near his face – enough that she could see some smoke rising from the skin as it was slowly cooked.

“Why?” she simply asked.

“Because…because they all said ‘no’.” A short burst of an eerie giggle of laughter accompanied the silence that followed. “All of them…they all said ‘no’. Your mother, your half-sister, that bitch’s mother, your aunt, that harlot working at that inn, so many…and so many more…they all said ‘no’ to me…to my leadership, to my power, and to the favors I asked of them.”

* * *

Susumu scraped the sharpening stone over the stubby blade again before holding it up and close to his eyes to examine the sharpness and edging. Most of the tiny grooves that had been chipped into the blade by constant usage since the last time he had sharpened it had been whittled away. The sunlight glinting off the metal blade gave it a slight aura around the edges and he knew that it was sharp enough.

“Susumu!” he heard Tetsu call out as he placed the blade back into its sheath and looked up to see the red-headed kid enter the courtyard of the guest house with a bale of hay and some twine. “Gah, this is heavy!”

“Its hay,” he heard Kai say from beside him, also sitting under the same tree, sharpening a few throwing knives of his own. “It’s light.”

“Not when you have to carry it from the stables to here!” Tetsu protested, dropping the hay near them before flopping to the ground. “What do you guys need this for anyways?”

“Practice,” he answered, picking up another throwing knife.

“Hey, it looks like our wayward sister is returning,” Kai said as he stood up, causing Tetsu to turn towards the entrance and Susumu to look up and stand with his two friends.

Though Susumu saw that Aya’s arm was in a sling to support the healing of the area on her back where she had been stabbed, she had a much better color to her face than she did three nights ago when she had been fighting for her life. However, he noticed that even though she carried a small satchel in her left hand, that hand was wrapped in cloth bandages. He did not recall her injuring her left hand when the traitors had attacked at all, and the wrapping looked fresh. He looked to Okita who was walking beside Aya, but could not see any sign of recent battle on the First Unit Captain. He wondered what Aya had done to injure her hand.

“Koibito?” Tetsu suddenly asked, gesturing to the two people approaching the guest house.

Kai’s burst of laughter caused Tetsu to give him a strange look, though it made Susumu smile to himself. As soon as Kai calmed down, he heard the tall shinobi say, “You can say it all you want, but if Aya hears you, she’ll kill you. Besides, if it were true, you’d think Okita-san would allow her to carry her satchel with an injured hand?”

_I dunno,_ Susumu thought to himself, _maybe Aya did beat him up for suggesting it and injured her hand that way…_ He kept the thought to himself, not wanting to fan any flames that might have started up with Tetsu’s innocent question. What his friends did with their own personal lives was not for him to wonder or ask unless it interfered with any assignment, and in the three years he had worked with Aya, she had not let anything interfere with any assignment she had been given, thus he knew very little about her life outside of their friendship brought together by their work. However, he also knew that there was a distinct difference in social status between them – the Oniwabanshuu and the Shinsengumi they served, that Tetsu was most likely not aware of. That gap between them was about to drastically widen, if what Susumu heard from the rumblings and rumors going around the Shogun’s court, was correct.

“I know for a fact that they’ve been friends since childhood, kid,” Kai said, giving a good-natured slap on Tetsu’s back. “Don’t let your assumptions get you down. You can’t predict everything.” With that statement, Susumu saw his friend take a few steps forward before shouting to the two approaching people, “Hey! Welcome home!”

Moments later, he heard the distinct footsteps of Hijikata behind him and turned to see the vice-commander approach them. There was an indifferent look about the vice-commander, but he did not miss the look of pride and attention that Tetsu displayed towards Hijikata, having been proud to have been among those who had cleared the vice-commander of any wrongdoings.

“Sir,” Aya began without preamble as she stopped before the vice-commander, bowing her head in deference. “Though I may be injured, I wish to remain in the service of the Shinsengumi. May I come with you when you leave Edo?”

“I don’t recall Kondou- _kyokuchou_ or me ever giving you permission to leave the Shinsengumi, Matsumoto,” Hijikata said, though there was a touch of anger in his voice. “However, you are never to go near the food storage for the rest of your time with us.”

Tetsu’s cry of “Yes! Aya-nee is staying with us!” almost drowned out the kunoichi’s affirmation of “Yes, sir.” Though Susumu heard no emotion in her voice, he saw the minute sagging of her body in relief as Hijikata gave a nod to Okita, ignoring the antics of Tetsu, before leaving the guest house to go about his business in Edo.

Moments after the vice-commander left, Aya regained her composure and cast a slightly puzzled glance to Kai before asking, “How bad were the results?”

“Extremely noxious,” Kai curtly replied. “I’m banning you from even hauling water into the kitchens as soon as we get back to Kyoto.” Susumu then saw the big shinobi point to Aya’s wrapped left hand, saying, “My turn with the questions. What did you do?”

“I lost control and sprained it.”

Susumu immediately felt some sympathy towards his friend, understanding and remembering his own actions that he had taken when Furutaka Shuntaro had been captured. It had taken a very conscious effort for him not to kill the bastard who had killed his sister, and it seemed that Aya had visited the surviving traitors recently. Whatever had been said to her by the traitors had been extreme enough to have driven her to lose her cool and collected demeanor.

“Come on, Tetsu-kun,” Okita gently interrupted the conversation that was about to happen, guiding Tetsu away from the three of them. Susumu heard the beginnings of a protest from the kid that was quickly silenced by Okita’s firm hand on Tetsu’s shoulder, guiding him away from the three shinobi and from the area.

“They killed all of our brothers and sisters out of spite,” Aya told the two of them when they were sure that no one was in hearing range. “Our brothers were killed because they were seen as a threat to their power and influence over our former _Okashira_.”

“Jun? Ryuusuke? My brother, Ryou? All of them in the last thirty years?”

Aya silently nodded to Kai’s listing of names before saying, “Our sisters were killed because they refused to pander to their advances.”

“Ayumu,” he whispered his sister’s name, his insides twisting in disgust at how the two advisors to their former _Okashira_ manipulated and conspired to try to grab more power by threatening death or asking for intimate favors. He had only been a child the last time he had seen the former _Okashira_ ’s advisors converse with his sister. Had he known what he knew now…

“Haruka? Toshiko? Your mother, Sakura?” Kai asked, voicing his disbelief. “Did they ever threaten my wife?”

“Your wife’s assignment to Kyoto under Okina’s command after your brother’s death probably threw them off,” Aya told him.

“They threatened and killed almost all of your family, Aya,” Kai quietly said in the uncomfortable silence that followed. “Did they ever threaten you?”

She shook her head. “They never did. I don’t think I’ll ever understand or know why.”

* * *

_Two days later…_

 

“We’re not even going into battle! Why do I have to wear it?”

Susumu mentally sighed and said in as patient of a voice as he could, “For the fifth time, kid, you’re going to be face-to-face with the Shogun.”

“So? The old geezer probably can’t see with his age!” Tetsu said.

“The ‘old geezer’ would have your head if he heard you say that, brat,” he heard Aya state in her usual clipped tone as he looked up to see that she was leaning against the frame of the opened partition that led to the room. “Our Shogun is also not old. You’re the last one kid. They’re all waiting for you outside the guest house. Better hurry up before they leave with you.”

“Why aren’t you, Aya-nee, and Kai-nii going with us if they’ve asked all of us Shinsengumi here to meet with the Shogun?” he heard Tetsu ask as the two of them exited the room and stepped down from the walkway.

“We’re shinobi,” he explained as they with Aya trailing after them, hurried through the courtyard. “Wouldn’t do well for us or what we do if we were strutting out in the open.”

Despite the fever and chills still running through the city, an enormous crowd had gathered near the entrance to the guest house’s courtyard as many of Edo’s inhabitants turned out to see the small representative group of the famed Shinsengumi. As soon as Tetsu stepped out, Susumu heard the adoring squeals and cries of _many_ women among the crowds directed at the young page. He wisely stepped back into the threshold of the entrance and caught a mild look from Aya as the two of them watched Tetsu get mobbed by affectionate women.

Susumu could not help but faintly grin at the scene before him before his thoughts wandered back to what had happened in the past few days. The former _Okashira_ and his daughter, Machimaki Haruka, had been buried a day-and-a-half earlier, with the entire Oniwabanshuu turning out in full uniform to give their former commander and vice-commander of the Edo faction the respectful parting they deserved. The traitors had been executed yesterday in public and Aoshi had delivered the final report to the Shogun earlier today.

The final report, which only a portion that involved the Shinchougumi and Shinsengumi had been given to their respective parties, contained the entire recount of the conspiracy, starting with events that happened thirty years prior. The two traitors to the Oniwabanshuu had been involved in several threats of assassination or blackmail on several shinobi closest to _Okashira_ Machimaki in vie to get the old man to choose either of them as the next _Okashira_. When things started to get heated up between the rebels and the Shogunate, the traitors started to assassinate those closest to the _Okashira_ via accidents or hiring other non-affiliated shinobi clans to do their dirty work. Their _Okashira_ had caught wind of some of the traitors’ plans, and nominated Shinomori Aoshi to be his successor. That was when the traitors launched an attack on him, only to be foiled by the _Okashira_ ’s daughter, Machimaki Haruka. Aoshi had then been sent with Aya all over the country to hone his skills and to keep the young man from being drawn into the vast conspiracy, until the death of Ayumu in Kyoto. In an effort to bolster support for Aoshi’s succession, the _Okashira_ had assigned the young man to the Shinsengumi, with Kai and Aya assigned to begin an investigation into the entire conspiracy.

Susumu now knew that the Fuuma clan’s attack two years ago was no fluke – it had been a deliberate, calculated attack ordered by the traitors that ended with only three survivors of the Fuuma clan escaping. Those same three traitors were the ones who had also planted false evidence in the guest house that the Shinsengumi were staying in, poisoned the tea that was drunk by the _Okashira_ , and had taken little Misao hostage. It was very unfortunate that the Shinsengumi and eventually the Shinchougumi had been pulled into the conspiracy, but it also caused the traitors to overreach. All five were now dead.

All-in-all, Susumu found he missed Kyoto and wondered why did he ever had the feeling of homesickness for Edo. Life was too complicated and messy here.

“You know…there are days in which I love not being samurai,” Kai said from behind them as he walked up and stood next to the two of them, with a grin on his face. “This is definitely one of those days.”

“They deserve it,” Aya said, gesturing to the small group of Shinsengumi who were wearing the full uniform, including the bright blue over jackets that made them so easily identifiable in a crowd. “They’re _the_ strongest force we have against the rebels. Being conferred as _hatamoto_ will bring some much needed hope to the loyalists.”

* * *

_One day later…_

 

“I wanna sit with Aya-oba!”

“You can’t, Misao-chan,” Okina gently admonished the child who was squirming in the saddle of the horse. “Aya is hurt and she can’t carry you.”

“But she’s not crying and her arm is all bandaged up!” the young child said, sniffing a bit as her eyes welled up in tears. “I wanna sit with Aya-oba!”

“I’ll take her Okina,” Aya spoke up as she guided her horse towards where the old man and the young child were riding double on Okina’s horse. “She can ride with me until we need to split up.”

Just as the young child gave a squeal of delight, Okina quietly asked the kunoichi, “Are you sure? You’re still not fully recovered yet.”

“Misao will be complaining the entire way, Okina,” she replied. “Might as well let her have her way – spoil her a bit, old man.”

Okina merely raised an eye brow at the strange choice of words that would not normally be said by the terse shinobi. Had recent events finally started to soften her demeanor? He looked at her carefully before thinking that perhaps recent events did, and he thought it was a good thing. As Aya maneuvered her horse to stand next to his, he lifted a happily squealing Misao off the saddle of his horse and carefully placed the child onto the other saddle. Aya adjusted both Misao and her balance on the horse, tightened her hold on Misao with her uninjured arm before guiding her horse away.

_Perhaps there is hope for the future_ , he thought.

 

Tetsu gave one last adjustment to the pack on his horse before grabbing the reins and swung himself up onto the saddle. He turned his head towards the sound of a squeal of happiness and saw that young child who had been held hostage days ago was being lifted by the old shinobi and into the saddle of Aya.

“Everyone always has someone to fight for, kid,” he heard Susumu say as the shinobi pulled his horse up beside his.

“What about you?” he asked, curious and remembering that two years ago, he had stormed into his friend’s room after witnessing the callous lie that Susumu had told the young woman who had loved him.

“I promised my sister that I’d live and complete as many assignments as I could before I die. Its good enough for me and it honors her memory,” his friend replied in an oddly contemplative tone, to which he found surprising.

He grinned at his friend’s statement and looked around – Edo was vast, and even in the days he had explored the city as much as possible, there were still so many place that he hadn’t seen yet. However, he was looking forward to returning to Kyoto; things were smaller and more comforting there and he wanted to visit Saya. As his gaze returned to the group and their final preparations before leaving he saw Okita standing beside his horse, conversing with his brother-in-law and a woman who looked similar to Okita except gracefully older.

The sharp, piercing whistle of Hijikata alerted all of them and he turned back to see the vice-commander give a wave of his arm, indicating that they were finally leaving. He broke his horse into a trot to catch up to Hijikata – it was time to go home.

* * *

_On the road, one day from the outskirts of Kyoto…_

 

“She is finally sleeping?”

Aya glanced back at the slightly opened partition that looked into a darkened room that had a small child sprawled out on the small futon, sleeping soundly. She looked back towards her friend as Souji sat down on the walkway that surrounded the small inn the Shinsengumi had stopped at for the night. “Only after I told her three stories, including the one about the fisherman and the whale,” she said.

“That is a long tale, indeed. Will she be all right, traveling with Kashiwazaki-san back to Kyoto?”

“Kyoto is the safest place right now for her,” she answered, breathing deeply and letting the cold autumn air fill her lungs. “There are too many bad memories in Edo for her and the political battlefield is no place for a child to be growing up in. She’s the granddaughter of the former _Okashira_ and those in Edo will take advantage of that. Kyoto does what we shinobi were meant to do, not get too deeply involved in political situations. We’re already deeply involved in the politics of our time, and our politics usually turn into blades. Both you and I were given our first blades when we were children. I took my blade up because it was expected of me. I’d rather not have Misao-chan grow up as either of us did.”

“If I told you the reason why I took up the sword, you would probably laugh,” she heard Souji lightly say.

“If both of our circumstances and fortunes had not changed five years ago, would I still laugh?” she asked, looking up at the clear, moonless night sky.

“Perhaps,” her friend answered in a more serious tone. “Tetsu-kun asked me ‘why I took up my sword’ in the first few weeks he was with us. I told him then that my answer was not going to be the answer he was looking for.”

“Did he find his answer yet?” It was oddly endearing to her to see that her friend had taken the bratty kid under his wing as a little brother of some sort.

“I think he did, but lately, I think he is missing a part of it.”

“I can ask Okina to check in on Saya-chan and retrieve correspondence from her to him,” she said. There were some things in this conflict that had to be preserved, like Tetsunosuke’s relative innocence and removal from the true horrors of war, and she was willing to help Souji in that endeavor.

“I believe that he would like that very much. Thank you.”

The silence that fell between them was amicable, though she could not help herself but say, “…it has been a very long time since we talked like this…”

There was no reply and Aya did not expect any. The tragic events of five years ago had changed both of them, and now, they were two completely different people with memories of their former lives. It had indeed, felt like a lifetime since she found herself allowing this much degree of care into her life and oddly enough, it gave her strength. However, she knew that she could not afford to keep such a leaky lid on her emotions – the past few days’ events had taken their toll, and she needed to refocus herself. Misao would be protected by Okina, and she would be able to be free to continue her service with the Shinsengumi.

“How are your injuries?”

She raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised at the unexpected question. _One last moment before I disappear_ , she told herself. “I am fine. I should be the one asking you; after all, you gave _all_ of us a scare.”

“I am also fine. You should not worry,” she heard the cheerfulness in Souji’s voice. That forced jovial atmosphere that her friend carried about him whenever he was in the public eye, even around her, irritated her. However, in the three years since her assignment to Kyoto and to the Shinsengumi, she had never voiced her annoyance; though she had accidentally overheard the vice-commander voice his annoyance at Souji’s forced exuberance around people before. Not only did that mask of happiness make people around Souji less inclined to worry, but it also made people underestimate him even more.

Would he answer her question? She didn’t know, but she was concerned enough to damn the consequences and asked, “Then for the sake of our friendship please tell me the truth, Souji. How long do you have?”

She looked over to see a sad, yet contemplative look on her friend’s face, as if he had already accepted his fate and was not going to fight it. She mentally shook her head – no that was not correct – he had already accepted the fact that the disease wracking his body was slowly killing him, but he was not going to let it keep him from doing his work.

“…I think I have less than a year,” she heard him quietly say.

 

~*~*~*~


End file.
